#Mark Teixeira rips Aroldis Chapman: ‘On purpose’ pitch, hid from media

Aroldis Chapman planned to appeal his three-game suspension for zipping a 101-mph fastball behind the head of Tampa Bay’s Mike Brosseau, but former Yankees teammate Mark Teixeira believes MLB should have come down even harder on the flame-throwing closer.

“He said his penalty was a little harsh. We all know he did it on purpose,” Teixeira, now an ESPN analyst, said Wednesday about Chapman on The Michael Kay Show. “Because of Joe Kelly, I thought Major League Baseball would come down harder on Chapman.

“This is a guy who throws over 100 miles an hour and it was obviously on purpose. I don’t think it was right and I think it should have been more.”

Kelly, a Dodgers reliever, was banned eight games in July (later reduced to five) for throwing near the head of Houston third baseman Alex Bregman on the heels of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

“I’ve been so adamant about let’s make sure that we actually have real punishments when you know that a guy threw at somebody on purpose up high,” Teixeira said. “If you punish a player 10-15-20 games without pay for hitting somebody … I’m not giving up 10 games of my paycheck to settle a beef with somebody else.

“But if you suspend me for one start as a starter, basically, and you back up a start, or a couple games as a reliever and you still get paid, alright I’ll do it. I’ll take that bullet for the team.”

Brosseau, who ducked out of the way of Chapman’s ninth-inning pitch, belted two home runs the following night in the Rays’ 5-2 win Wednesday at the Stadium.

Chapman didn’t talk to the media following Tuesday’s game, and Teixeira scoffed at the six-time All-Star closer’s alibi Wednesday that he’d been dealing with command issues the previous night.

“Let’s look at the facts here,” Teixeira said. “(Chapman) didn’t talk to the media afterwards. If I had done that and it wasn’t on purpose … First of all, I don’t stare the guy down after. You say, ‘Hey, I am sorry. It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t mean it.’ Apologies to Brosseau, to the Rays and it’s over with. But that’s not what happened. He hid.

“One thing that we learned as New York Yankees is we’re accountable after the games and we talk to the press.”

Teixeira also didn’t understand why Yanks manager Aaron Boone was suspended for Wednesday’s game. Tampa Bay skipper Kevin Cash also was banned after saying he had “a whole damn stable of guys who throw 98” miles per hour.

“I think this kind of gets back to why a lot of people have soured on MLB and the commissioner’s office,” Teixeira said. “You go back to the Astros scandal. There was no rhyme or reason why certain things happened there. The Joe Kelly eight games, that kind of came out of nowhere. What did Boonie get, a game? I don’t know. They’re just making stuff up right now.”