Boston's Casey drops appeal; Crisp hopes for reduction

Jun 23, 2008 - 10:48 PM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Boston Red Sox first baseman Sean Casey on Monday dropped his appeal of a three-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing brawl against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 5.

Casey will begin serving his suspension beginning with Monday night's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp also had his hearing with Major League Baseball on Monday and is hoping to have his seven-game suspension reduced.

Casey, Crisp and pitcher Jon Lester were penalized for their roles in the brawl. Lester already served his five-game suspension earlier this month.

Crisp was at the center of the incident. After he was drilled on the hip by Rays righthander James Shields, Crisp charged the mound and both benches emptied onto the field.

In addition to Shields, Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes, Carl Crawford, Akinori Iwamura and Edwin Jackson received suspensions for throwing wild punches.

The night before the brawl, Crisp was involved in a pair of hard slides at second base, which Tampa Bay players said escalated the tensions.