Yankees on Benitez' pitch, 1998

"It was just a real rotten thing to do," Joe Torre said. "It was just so blatant that Benitez caused a riot. That's basically what happened. He came within a foot of hitting Tino in the back of the head.""That was the most - - - thing I've ever seen in my life," general manager Brian Cashman said. "He could have really hurt somebody. I'm sure their guys are embarrassed about what he did. Hopefully the league will look at this and he'll be suspended for a long time.""That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen," Derek Jeter said. "They would probably say the same thing."Benitez said the pitch was "unintentional," a claim that the Yankees laughed at when they heard it. Martinez, who was not available after the game, suffered a severe bruise and Steinbrenner had one staff member take a Polaroid picture of the injury to send to the league office.