1. It's Baseball and it happens
2. "Protocol" - you hit my teammate, one of yours is going down
3. If your killing my team well how does a pitch on your back feel
4. And maybe your trying to get hit (absurd as that sounds, Craig Biggio was THE master at getting hit with 285 times in his career)
Let's look at three such instances lately:
1. Prince Fielder has a day at the plate against the Dodgers, so the next night with the game essentially over and the Dodgers leading by forever, Guillermo Mota hits Fielder in the backside (furnished by all those Tofu Burgers) in the 8th inning-the 8th inning! So, Fielder looks at Mota takes his base and the game ends. Afterwords, Fielder goes to the Dodgers lockeroom to confront Mota, but was unsuccessful as teammates and security guards held/persuaded him to go back to the Brewers locker room.
2. It is a known fact this season that you do not pitch to Albert Pujols with the bases loaded-the man is 8-10 with 27 RBI's and 5 Grand Salamis. After hitting his 5th such grand slam of the year against the Mets the night before, Sir Albert is plunked in his backside. Albert brushes it off and takes his base. Later in the game, Cardinals Pitcher Brad Thompson unleashes one that is high and tight to Met's slugger David Wright who was able to get out of the way. Thompson was ejected because both sides had been warned after Pujols got hit.
3. Last night, in the 2nd inning of a game between the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, Tiger's pitcher Rick Porcello hit Kevin Youkilis in his backside. Youkilis, after having been hit the previous night's game, charges the mound, throws his helmet (a no-no when charging the mound according to Baseball Tonight's John Kruk and Eric Young-besides what is Porcello going to throw his glove at Youkilis?), and attempts to tackle Porcello, but Porcello was the one who managed the takedown. Both benches cleared and not much else happened.
Let's see if we can relate these three instances to the reasons why batters get hit:
Case 1. There was ABSOLUTELY NO reason Mota should have hit Fielder in that situation-the only logical thing that could explain that is the pitch got away from Mota and his Fielder. My response to this is-why even throw inside-your winning by 20 and it's the 8th inning his run doesn't mean anything and so what if he killed your team the previous night. Last time I checked the Dodgers were still in first place and you have a 36-38 record with a 3.89 career ERA. No reason for it to happen-now Fielder's reaction was also uncalled for and he should have done the next game what he did before and killed the Dodgers at the plate. Both players got fined, but not suspended.
Case 2. I don't know why Pujols got hit-probably for the same reason Fielder did-Reason #3 on why batters get hit. Thompson was employing the "Protocol" or Reason #2-watching out for his teammate. It is an unwritten code in baseball that it is going to happen and it happens to any batter more times than not if a team's best player gets hit than the other teams best hitter better be ready. I understand why Thompson threw at Wright, just not the location-even his own Manager, Tony LaRussa said that. He was unhappy with Thompson about the location of the pitch. There is no need to even be throwing in that direction-your missing with life when you do that as Scott Rolen has been suffereing from concussion like symptoms since getting hit in the head by Jason Marquis (totally accidental). Thompson got a 3-game suspension for his pitch.
Case 3. Here are some of Youkilis' comments:
“A lot of times guys pitch inside,” Youkilis said. “There’s times I get hit, but I think the last two days are different. I think there’s intent there to hit.” “Two days in a row and the way it was going, I had had enough of it,” Youkilis said. “At some point you have to protect yourself as a hitter, and for your teammates. I just felt like I had to do what I had to do.”
It was Youkilis 8th time getting hit this season only half of the AL Leader Kelly Shoppach of the Indians with 15. I understand the frustration over getting hit-it hurts and stings, but hey you get on base and the consequences are much worse than if you would just take your base. Plus, Youkilis realized the impact of his actions...“I definitely don’t like it being on TV for the kids out there. That’s not the way we should handle it.” Of course not-MLB players need to grow up in times like these becasue America's youth is out there watching this and emulating this on the playing fields. How about settling the issue where there are no TV cameras around and not making a big deal of it. Now, we do not know what the punishment will be for either side, but it will be harsh and will impact the Red Sox who are in the middle of a Wild-Card Race (pretty much hand the Yankees the Division) and will need Youkilis' bat and glove in the lineup.
Manager Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox has recently said after his White Sox Players were hit more times than this past weekends series than a piniata at an 8 yr old's birthday part, that all teams were put on notice and that his team would not take it anymore. I understand the your teammate for my teammate, that is just watching out for your teammate, the one you go to battle with for 162 games from April to October. BUT, it has gotten out of hand lately and players and managers need to remember that these players impact the Baseball Youth and they see this and don't understand why sometimes-they see it as that is cool what the Pro's do, so why not? How about every Major Leaguer read this article on Sportsmanship and at least get rid of that crap amongst all of the steroid allegation that is going on. Give some type of good example to America's youth besides cheating and beating each other up. Play the game the right way-take your base and punish the pitcher for making a mistake and help your team to victory.
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