Pirates, Dennis Santana have to wonder where MLB was after acting swiftly on White Sox situation

Dennis Santana was under tremendous scrutiny last week after he got into an altercation with a fan while warming up in the bullpen at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Pittsburgh Pirates reliever tried to take a swing at the fan during the incident, resulting in a four-game suspension issued by Major League Baseball.

Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan reported that there was more to the story, however, saying that the fans in question had been throwing peanuts at Santana and peppering him with insults that had "racial undertones."

Zangrilli also reported that the fans made mention of Santana's recently deceased father in their taunts. Santana went on the Major League Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List less than two months ago after his father's passing in April.

While discipline was certainly warranted after Santana attempted to strike the fan, a four-game suspension felt a bit extreme. The severity of the punishment raised even more eyebrows when MLB responded differently to another fan incident just a few days later.

Pirates, Dennis Santana have to wonder where MLB was after acting swiftly on White Sox situation

On Tuesday, a fan was ejected from Rate Field for yelling something at Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte about his late mother during a game against the Chicago White Sox.

Marte, whose mother died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in 2017, was brought to tears by the incident, and Diamondbacks personnel who heard the comments asked for the fan to be ejected. The fan has since been banned from all MLB stadiums, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, and MLB issued a statement commending the White Sox for "taking immediate action in removing the fan."

Unfortunately, the incidents with Marte and Santana weren't the first such instances in MLB this season. In April, the fan in Cleveland who yelled at Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran about his attempted suicide was ejected and banned from the ballpark as well.

To be clear, Santana taking a swing at a fan is unacceptable behavior; but so is heckling a player about his deceased father. The fan was ejected from Comerica Park, but we didn't hear a peep out of MLB after the incident except the announcement of Santana's suspension.

In this instance, the league over-punished Santana and under-punished the fan in Detroit. Santana's suspension should have been reduced to one or two games, and the fan should have been banned from Comerica Park (if not all MLB parks) beyond that one game. MLB got this one wrong.

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