One more reason baseball can take its "Unwritten Code" and shove it

A slap shot can travel at over 100MPH. Regardless why does it matter whether you can kill someone from 60 feet or 2 feet?

 

Because in baseball the pitcher has a huge and unique advantage over the batter if he chooses to use it to settle petty etiquette matters. Other sports, you'd pretty much have to settle differences toe-to-toe.

 

A perfect reason to get rid of the DH.

 

Let me take this moment to remind folks that the etiquette in baseball is that retaliatory pitches in baseball should NOT be thrown in the vicinity of the head. Which, of course, is why guys get upset when they believe pitches are purposely thrown in the vicinity of their heads.

 

Especially in the AL, where the pussies don't have to bat.

 

Yet, interestingly enough, statistics demonstrate the frequency of hit batsmen is the about the same in both leagues.

 

Maybe it's from growing up with the DH as part of baseball from little leagues to Babe Ruth to American Legion to colleges and the majors, but I prefer the AL to the NL. I'd rather watch hitters hit and pitchers pitch.

And I fail to see the inherent drama involved in executing a double switch. It's not rocket science.

And if retaliation is needed as part of the unwritten code, every team has a star player in the batting order and a message can be sent with a pitch behind that guy.

OK, maybe the Pirates don't have a star player.

 

Actually, this form of retaliation should be, in theory, more attractive to the pitcher than simply hitting the other pitcher. If you hit a pitcher, you're giving up an almost certain out. Not so if you hit a star player.

 

The biggest problem with baseball fights (as opposed to other sports) is that one team has nine guys on the field whereas the other team can have as few as one. That's why you'll never see baseball institute the automatic ejection/suspension for leaving the bench the way basketball and football have.

 

Also because baseball players punch like girls, and the embarrassment of the video is punishment enough.

 

Yes. I am.

The odds of someone dying from being hit by a pitched ball are miniscule.

I'm going to say that 98 percent of the time when a guy intentionally throws at someone, it's not at his head. So for your point to meaningful, it would not only have to intentional, but it would have to be one of the 2-percent intentional at his head. And it would have to kill him.

I'm just not buying that this is even a factor.

Also, guys don't try to hit players just because they are mad that they got hits off them. They hit them because they violated some other rule (slow trot, admiring a homer, etc.) or they hit them because they are simply trying to move them off the plate, which is absolutely part of their job.

I'm not going to defend all the "unwritten rules," because some are stupid, but I think there is a place in the game for a lot of the stuff.