Bud Black responds to Clayton Kershaw's "disrespect" comments

DENVER – Before Friday’s game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants, we wanted to ask Bud Black about some potentially unfinished business regarding the last game his club played at the end of their California road trip.

In case you haven’t heard, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw went on record saying he felt disrespected by Tyler Anderson taking his time to warm up (or not doing so in the right fashion, one way or the other) before Wednesday’s contest.

We asked Rockies manager Bud Black what he thought about those comments and while he clearly wasn’t interested is stoking a fire, he simply wasn’t having it, making it clear he had his young pitcher’s back.

“I thought that from my perspective what Tyler did was something that you see occasionally during the course of a 162 game season or 15 games a night,” he said. “It is not an uncommon occurrence what he did. So that’s what I got on that.”

His normally boisterous tone was calmed for a moment, he answered methodically and seriously without overreacting. It seemed like that was all he really wanted to say so we didn’t ask if he felt like the plunking of Carlos Gonzalez was intentional retribution or if his team is more fired up to face Kershaw and/or the Dodgers next time around.

But it also feels pretty safe to say that the next time these two teams play, this topic will come up again. Kershaw hasn’t given any indication he has backed off his feelings and Black has made it clear that he is in his own southpaw’s corner. These are the kinds of things that can brew rivalries and start brawls as they fester while seasons wear on.

We may find out if the Rockies thought Kershaw’s HBP on CarGo was intentional if they retaliate the next time they see Los Angeles. It’s possible that this is a passing thing, but it feels more like the start of something between two teams who will be battling in the National League West all year long. And, perhaps, for seasons to come.