Thread: Hamels hits Harper on purpose

He was given a 5 game suspension - is that a fair number? He'll miss one start. Does it send a message to Hamels that he shouldn't hit people or just that he shouldn't say he did it on purpose?

Originally Posted by one_eyed_jack

---So unnecessary risk of injury makes the game better? Should we allow guys to carry the bat with them after they put the ball in play and try to prevent the first baseman from catching the throw by whacking them with it? I'm sure that would up the intensity and stir up some rivalries.

Good grief. Reductio ad absurdum is fun. Since player safety is tantamount, we should probably eliminate take out slides while we're at it. And probably change the bats and balls to nerf bats so we don't have any more shattered bats flying at players and fans. Maybe mandate that hitters wear a lot of body armor and pitchers can't throw inside. And change the schedule to give more days off and fewer overall games since all those games and travel fatigue players. Maybe play fewer innings so we don't put as much wear/tear on the pitchers arm.

Originally Posted by gunnarthor

Good grief. Reductio ad absurdum is fun. Since player safety is tantamount, we should probably eliminate take out slides while we're at it. And probably change the bats and balls to nerf bats so we don't have any more shattered bats flying at players and fans. Maybe mandate that hitters wear a lot of body armor and pitchers can't throw inside. And change the schedule to give more days off and fewer overall games since all those games and travel fatigue players. Maybe play fewer innings so we don't put as much wear/tear on the pitchers arm.

I couldn't agree more, all of this self-righteous "wait until someone gets killed" grandstanding is a bunch of hyperbole, get over your indignant selves. If it bothers you so much then stop watching, take an actual stand, not just cry about how wrong it all is. I certainly don't know any better than anyone else but I think you can infer by Harper's non response he didn't think it was such a big deal, I'm sure he's not spending too much time making his funeral arrangements in the event it happens again. The player's don't blindly follow this, they accept it,if they didn't then the collective will would win out, it always does, no different than fighting in hockey. For the record he didn't get beaned, he got hit, bean is a metaphor for head, he got hit in the back, that's being plunked.

And for those who fancy using drunk driving analogies, try to find a better one, one where people don't actually lose their lives.

Hamels also broke the unwritten rule of intentionally putting the tying or go-ahead run on base. Granted, it was only the first inning, so it's a minor infraction. It's probably also not the best old-school baseball move to talk about how old-school you are to the media. The whole thing is pretty funny (because no one was hurt).


The part I'm missing is this - what's the unwritten rule is that you're supposed to hit a guy because he's a rookie? Did Harper take too long rounding the bases the day before or do something else to show up one of Philly's pitchers? That's a lot of HBP to go around if you have to hit every new guy to the show. If it's a rule, why didn't Weaver hit Dozier last night? Weaver is pretty old-school, right?

Originally Posted by Kirby_Waved_At_Me

The part I'm missing is this - what's the unwritten rule is that you're supposed to hit a guy because he's a rookie? Did Harper take too long rounding the bases the day before or do something else to show up one of Philly's pitchers? That's a lot of HBP to go around if you have to hit every new guy to the show. If it's a rule, why didn't Weaver hit Dozier last night? Weaver is pretty old-school, right?

Putting rookies in their place is a normal thing. Harper is a big time prospect who gets a lot of media attention so he'll get swat down a bit. But pitchers challenging rookies isn't new. Mike Piazza told a story once where he was a hot shot prospect in Dodgers spring training (probably 91 or 92). He stepped in against Bert Blyleven, then with the Angels, career almost over. Bert's first pitch is a fastball high and inside that makes Piazza jump back. His next pitch starts at his head again, Piazza leaps out, ball curves back into strike zone, ump calls it a strike and Piazza later said something to the effect of "I was terrified. I thought I'd never hit ML pitching."

Originally Posted by Kirby_Waved_At_Me

Hamels also broke the unwritten rule of intentionally putting the tying or go-ahead run on base. Granted, it was only the first inning, so it's a minor infraction. It's probably also not the best old-school baseball move to talk about how old-school you are to the media. The whole thing is pretty funny (because no one was hurt).


The part I'm missing is this - what's the unwritten rule is that you're supposed to hit a guy because he's a rookie? Did Harper take too long rounding the bases the day before or do something else to show up one of Philly's pitchers? That's a lot of HBP to go around if you have to hit every new guy to the show. If it's a rule, why didn't Weaver hit Dozier last night? Weaver is pretty old-school, right?

Not just because he's a rookie, a bit of a cocky rookie, also Washington is threatening the Phillies superiority, they are the up and comers so Hamels wants to point out that if they want to play with the big boys there is going to be a price. He chose to send that message to the guy who might not quite appreciate that yet, the golden child.

The Angels and Weaver have nothing to worry about from the Twins or Dozier (who also doesn't have a reputation), not that the Angels are scaring anybody right now either.

The issue here is intent. The problem of course is 2-fold. Most pitchers in the majors won't survive very long if they are unwilling to pitch inside. There are pitchers who don't mind hitting batters, there are those who would prefer not to. But, unless someone admits it, it is pretty darn hard to prove intent. It is pretty likely nobody will be willing to admit intent from now on. None of this will make baseball safer. Just like the warning rule does not make baseball safer.

Personally, I would probably prefer to face a pitcher like Hamel who has good control and if he hits you it will likely be in the lower body or legs, rather than some young hard thrower who has to pitch inside to be effective but does not have very good control.

Ok, fair enough - Throw at Harper because he's playing on a rival team and people think he's full of himself. I understand it, but I think it was a little premature to hit him in that situation.
So, does anyone think that's end of it? Does Harper get hit again on the 21st when the two teams play next?

Doubt it but there might be a little more plate for the pitcher to work with.

Harper did not seem the least bit intimidated by Hamels, so I imagine he's not going to be backing up his stance for anyone anytime soon.