http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=405187

Strasburg-critic Dibble off TV for Nats

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals say Rob Dibble will no longer work as a TV analyst for the team's games, a split that comes after the former reliever made comments critical of rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Dibble lashed out at Strasburg last week for not pitching through pain. Dibble said on Sirius XM Radio that "You can't have the cavalry come in and save your butt every time you feel a little stiff shoulder, sore elbow."

Strasburg has since been diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament and will have surgery Friday. He will be sidelined 12 to 18 months.

Two days after making those comments, Dibble was absent from the broadcast both on MASN, the network that televises the games. At the time, MASN said Dibble had requested "a few days off."

"You get hit the first time, that should take care of it," Dibble said. "Don't hit our catcher any more, don't do that kind of stuff. But then the second time, ok, that's a little overkill. The one thing I respect about Nyjer, he's an ex-hockey player, he plays the game with a lot of emotion, a lot of feeling. And you know what, he gave away a foot in that fight. And if you think the guy's intentionally trying to hurt you or throw at you, you've got to do something....

"How are you upset that the other guy's stealing when he's down 11 runs? You should be thankful, saying listen, he's really rolling the dice. If he gets thrown out, he's gonna be in big trouble by his team and his manager....

"The fight is a scary moment, when anybody fights, whether or not you're giving away a foot. Take it from me, it's no fun to be at the bottom of the pile. These guys are too talented, and we're having too much fun watching these men play for somebody to go out there and get hurt....

"Remember, his mentality is aggressiveness all the time. He played many years of junior hockey. This doesn't excuse some of the things he's done, especially the shot he took at the Cardinals' catcher. It was uncalled for to run over the catcher. But that being said, the first pitch in the back with a 92 mile-an-hour fastball should be like listen, quit playing out of control, get yourself under control and let's play some baseball. But the second one, you have to defend yourself. And I've had guys charge at me, and I've said this after the fight, I would say 'Listen, if you felt that I was throwing at you and it was intentional, you have every right to defend yourself.'

"And a lot of guys are too open with the comments after the game - we didn't like him stealing second and third. You're up 14-3. It's not smart baseball, [stealing bases] when you're down 11 runs. That was Nyjer's problem. It's not the Marlins' problem....

"People are gonna remark about him going off the field. Now remember, all the years he played hockey and all the years he played junior hockey at the highest levels. What do hockey players do after they fight? They walk off like a gladiator, like yeah, that's right, that was a good one, that was fun, you knew I was here. So he was giving away a foot to Volstad, and say what you want to say, that's a guy that's about 5-7, probably 150, 160 pounds, and he plays with a lot of heart. So yeah, you don't like the way he plays, fine, you hit him the first time. But the second time, he thought he had to take care of some business."

At least Dibble made sense about Nyjer