Biography
Russell Paul Springer (born November 7, 1968 in Alexandria, Louisiana) is an Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. Springer has been a journeyman pitcher, pitching primarily out of the bullpen, since his major league debut on April 17, 1992, with the New York Yankees. Springer has also pitched for the California Angels, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, and St. Louis Cardinals. Springer attended Louisiana State University (LSU). In 2007, he was 8-1 with an ERA of 2.18 in his second career stint with the Cards. Career-wise, he is 35-41 with an ERA of 4.55 and has recorded 8 saves. On January 29, 2009, Springer finalized a contract with the Oakland Athletics. Barry Bonds feud Springer is well known for his pitching on May 16, 2006, in a game between the Houston Astros and the San Francisco Giants, when he entered the game in the fourth inning with the Giants already ahead 11-3. When Barry Bonds came to the plate, his career home run total stood at 713. After Springer's first pitch sailed behind Bonds, umpire Joe West warned both benches. Nevertheless, Springer threw four more inside pitches, the fifth of which hit Barry Bonds in the shoulder. Springer was then ejected along with Astros manager Phil Garner. As Springer left the field due to his ejection, he received a standing ovation from the Astros fans. The fans apparently showed their disdain for Bonds, as Bonds stood poised to match Babe Ruth's career home run total of 714 and closing in on all-time career home run leader Hank Aaron (755). The ovation received mass criticism from both San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou and famed Giants broadcaster Jon Miller, who claim the ovation was in bad taste. Springer was suspended for four games and his manager Phil Garner one game for the incident, and was fined $50,000. This wasn't the first time Springer had deliberately pitched at Bonds. In September of 2004, Springer similarly pitched all inside to Bonds eventually hitting him. Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper (play-by-play announcers for the Giants) during the play kept questioning "Why?" as no one really knew what Springer's intentions were for hitting Bonds when he was clearly pitching to hit Bonds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Springer
