Friday, April 12, 2013

baseball's Catch-22


Felix Hernandez hits Alex Rodriguez with a pitch, breaks his wrist, A-Rod misses over two months.

J.A. Happ hits Curtis Granderson with a pitch, breaks his arm, Granderson misses two months.

A couple years ago, Alfredo Aceves hit Marlon Byrd in the face with a pitch, Byrd misses six weeks.

Zach Greinke hits Carlos Quentin with a pitch, Quentin charges the mound and breaks Greinke's collarbone, Greinke to miss two or three months.

No one wants to see players get injured. Baseball is centered on pitchers' ability to throw accurately. When pitchers throw 90 miles an hour, there is serious risk of significant injuries to the batter. There are times when it is obvious that a pitcher intentionally hits a batter, and I have no problem when batters charge the mound in those situations.

But on a 3-2 pitch leading off the sixth inning in a one run game, Greinke's throw on Quentin was not intentional.

I believe that pitchers should be held responsible when they cause batters to miss time with an injury from a HBP. When a batter charges the mound and injures the pitcher, I believe the batter should be held responsible.

Is this just part of the game that teams, fans and players have to deal with? Is there a better way to legislate/enforce?

Should Happ and King Felix sit out while the batters are out? Should Quentin sit while Greinke is out?

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