So now that last night’s game is over and we have all had a good night’s sleep, what do we take away from what happened in the third inning yesterday? The first thing is to just recognize that this may not be over. Both pitchers gave the obligatory “I didn’t mean to do it” quotes after the game; everybody has learned the Cole Hamels/Bryce Harper lesson well. I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I didn’t buy either of those quotes last night, and I doubt MLB will either. Diamond’s pitch was more obvious and deserving of an ejection (although I did notice Hamilton dodged in such a way as the pitch came closer to his head than if he had just taken it), but I have no doubt that the commissioner’s office will believe Oswalt’s was intentional also, even if it was a tad less obvious. There may be repercussions for one or both players after the game is reviewed, or the league may choose to look the other way and accept the post-game statements at face-value.

Given that, in today’s climate of concern about concussions, any pitch deemed thrown near the head with even a whiff of intentionality is going to merit an immediate ejection (and possible future suspension), is it still possible to allow the players to police themselves, as in the “good old days?” I believe so, and this blog entry gives my thoughts on that. I say up front that I speak strictly as a fan, having only watched many games on TV and in person. I have never actually played the game (unless you count one forgettable year in Little League minor league), and I know that puts me at a fairly large disadvantage when talking about a subject like this, but here are my thoughts nonetheless, for whatever value, if any, they have.

I take my cue from asking the question, “Why didn’t Wally Bell issue a warning after the Oswalt pitch to Mauer?” Certainly if he had even a suspicion that it was intentional, and would normally draw a response, would that not be the practical course to take? Unless – you intended to let the other team get their “payback” before stepping in to make sure it didn’t progress beyond that. I have no inside knowledge for this other than my own hunch and intuition, but to me it makes sense. My suspicion is Bell didn’t want to close the door for Minnesota to respond in kind, in accord with the “unwritten rules” of the game. What forced Bell’s hand was a) the fact that the payback came on the first pitch, when everybody in the stadium was waiting for it to happen, and the fact that it came near his head.

So how should Diamond do this in the future? First, it would be desirable to have an at-bat or two intervening, to break the sense of tit-for-tat. I understand, though, that the next at-bat for Hamilton came up in the situation best designed for retaliation – early in the game, with none on, when it probably won’t matter much putting the guy on base. So I’ll grant him that. Next time, though, I would make sure it wasn’t on the first pitch. Maybe a 2-0 or a 3-0 count. Throw a pitch high and outside, throw one low in the dirt and to the backstop (there was no one on base, remember), and then he has established his “wildness” for that at-bat. The next pitch can go right in the ribs and not look quite so out of place or intentional. It gives the umpire a plausible excuse to look the other way and issue warnings to both benches instead of an ejection, which is exactly what I think Bell was looking for. And then, of course, you need to keep the ball down. The game has changed; head-hunting is not allowed even if it’s a proportional response to an earlier play in the game. I will give Diamond the benefit of the doubt here and assume the ball sailed up a little higher than he actually intended (and I suppose, if I’m to be completely fair, I’ll give Oswalt that same benefit – he meant to hit him, but not quite so high up). Keeping the ball down to the numbers or lower would send the message as effectively as can be done in the current era.

One last thought – kudos to Gardenhire for coming out as well. He obviously knew he was going to get tossed when he did, but it was good to see him standing up for his player (particularly if he called the play?) and not let him be the only one sent off. I’ve been critical of Gardy in the past for getting sent off too frequently, but this one was legit.

it took only 8 seconds for Gardy to get tossed from the game. i like Gardy

Deduno is wild enough, he should be able to hit a Texas main man without a issue unless it is a head shot. He may even do it not intentionally. That will put Texas on the defensive without the ability to reply as the first hit batter will probably force the umps to issue a warning and Gardy can argue pitcher wildness.

I didn't see the game last night, so all I know about this situation is what I've read on the internets today. What I don't like is that Mauer got plunked and Oswalt didn't get a warning, and Hamilton did not get hit but Diamond was ejected. I think the ump should have warned both teams after Diamond threw behind Hamilton because that's probably the end of it. Nobody gets thrown out that way. It sounds like Diamond's pitch was a purpose pitch. If he wanted to dot Hamilton, he would have.

Since you can't hit a pitcher in retaliation in the AL because of the DH, I'd like to have seen a Twins hitter have his bat slip while swinging, hurling it back at Oswalt. Probably could hit him and make it hurt. Send the message and plunk the guy who started it all. All with plausible deniability.

Here's the link to the video of these events:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120823&content_id=37231310&notebook_id=37240218&vkey=notebook_min&c_id=min

Since you can't hit a pitcher in retaliation in the AL because of the DH, I'd like to have seen a Twins hitter have his bat slip while swinging, hurling it back at Oswalt. Probably could hit him and make it hurt. Send the message and plunk the guy who started it all. All with plausible deniability.

I was thinking exactly the same in some of those hard Doumit swings after that Mauer PA. Let it go. Hammer throw.

I was kind of ticked last night and I was hoping the Twins would use up their whole bullpen hitting one batter per inning. Then when the benches cleared (and they probably would have) make sure someone went after Oswalt. Maybe that's why Waldrop got called up - so we have enough arms to do it tonight.

I heard on the radio that the only reason that Diamond was tossed was because he went over the head, which is an auto toss, and if he had gone for and hit the body he would have been part of the two-team warning.

Diamond fined and suspended sucks if Oswalt goes free.