The following appeared on the Internet today regarding Game #2 of the 2014 World Series:

“A two-run double by Kansas City’s Salvador Perez followed by a two-run homer from Omar Infante off Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland in the sixth had the intense rookie hurler yelling at Perez as players from both teams walked out of the dugout, poised in case a confrontation broke out.

“I think it was just frustration on his part,’ Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ‘He’s an intense kid and it got away from him a little bit. He’s a competitor. That’s one area where he’s going to have to learn to keep his poise. It’s an area he has to work on.”

Managers and head coaches often make excuses for the public behavior of one of their players but few are privy to what’s actually going on in an athlete’s personal life. This could be a classic example of misdirected anger brought on by his not confronting a problem away from the baseball diamond. If true, and had Strickland received help prior to game time, who knows? The Giants might have won Game #2.