It Takes a Big Man to Admit He Was Wrong

By T.J. Simers

June 4, 2006 12 AM PT

Brad Penny pitched Saturday, had another meeting on the mound with Dodgers Manager Grady Little and no punches were thrown.

Little, showing a willingness to poke a stick at his big bear on the mound, visited Penny with the pitcher winning big, but in a jam and still shy of recording enough outs to get the win. A big round of applause, please, for Little.

Only this time Little left Penny in to pitch, Penny eventually leaving after six innings with a 6-0 lead and giving up one hit in an 8-2 Dodger victory.

Later Penny told the media that last week’s incident was behind him, making it clear he wanted to say no more, the media opting to back off rather than press the bad Penny that he can be -- and maybe get chased from the room by some maniac swinging a bat.

I figured, though, this could be the best day of my interviewing life, knowing here was one player who could not afford to get upset by any line of teasing or questioning after making such a fool of himself last week.

So I began by mentioning the five “viewpoint letters” that appeared in The Times’ traditional Saturday space blasting Penny for looking “like a prima donna,” Page 2 and Plaschke thrilled, of course, that someone else was finally getting it.

Penny said he hadn’t read the paper, so I did the best I could to tell him how people felt, noting how selfish he appeared in wanting credit for the win, possibly at the expense of his teammates, and what a dreadful example he had set for kids.

“My mom wasn’t too happy with me either,” he said.

Penny and Little met in Atlanta to settle their differences, but Penny had not spoken to the media since the meeting; I figured he went into hiding like most athletes trying to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions.

“Nobody asked me about it,” he said, and would you want to talk to a guy who looked like a soccer player picking up a bat for the first time while trying to ward off a swarm of bees?

“I grabbed the bat with my left hand and I’m a right-handed hitter,” Penny said, and for the record he didn’t raise his voice even though he was being called a soccer player. “I was actually going to throw the bat, but I showed that much control,” he added, holding two fingers closely together in mocking himself.

“I’m sorry I reacted the way I did. I shouldn’t have. My emotions and competitiveness got the best of me and I had no call to challenge what the manager did.”

I said some fans were upset because another big-time athlete has proven to be a poor sport and seemingly has faced no discipline.

“People don’t know what happened behind closed doors,” he said, and so what happened behind closed doors?

“I’m not at liberty to talk about it,” he said, which suggests he got fined. “Hey, the same thing happened in almost the exact same kind of situation for me back in 2003 [in Florida] when Jack McKeon was manager.”

Obviously he learned from that.

“I just hope,” Penny said, “the rest of the season is a replay of what happened back then when we won the World Series.”

Maybe it’s time someone on the Angels throws a tantrum.

BEFORE THE game a fan yelled, “Grady, throw me a ball.” And he did.

I’m pretty sure he’ll do that for anyone who asks, so just position yourself behind the third base dugout and yell as loud as you can. Tell him I sent you.

I HAD no idea new USC baseball Coach Chad Kreuter had been managing a team known as the Nuts, but based on what I know of the guy, I’d say he was born to occupy such a position.

WHEN I mentioned the family’s plans to travel across country in an RV this summer, I had no idea so many people had already experienced such an ordeal.

“Have you ever driven through Nebraska and Kansas?” Jack Moore wrote. “Have you lost your mind?”

Others showed tremendous bravery, like Tom and Rindy Sanders and Gene Ewald, who offered driving lessons, and Tom Lindstrom from Niel’s Motor Homes in Van Nuys, who said he’d be willing to take our money to rent an RV even though he knows the Grocery Store Bagger will be driving at times.

E-mailer John Widener also gave it some thought and urged me to “put the transmission in drive mode, push the gas pedal ALL THE WAY to the floor and drive off the highest cliff. And make sure your family is at your side.”

Jim Dunlevey wrote, “I believe this is the first time I’ve ever felt sympathy for you, but your vacation plans tug at my heart like a Plaschke column because I am condemned to an annual visit to a brother-in-law on a farm in Kansas. Unfortunately you will be too late for the annual Testicle Festival in Wilson. It was last weekend.”

Right now the trip does look like a disaster, knowing now how much fun it would’ve been to see the look on the family’s faces had we only left on time to make it to Wilson.

TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Jim Post:

“Watch Shaq? Brick his free throws? I loved it when Big Ben stuffed the ‘great’ O’Neal....You do realize that Detroit is still going to win that series, don’t you? You know, you’ve said about a thousand ignorant statements when it comes to sports, but the ‘Kobe tanked’ line was easily your dumbest ever.”

Right up there with “Detroit is still going to win that series.”

T.J. Simers can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.