[VAGolf]

I'm sure a majority of you have been following Yasel Puig who is having a monster start to his career.

In case you didn't see what happened last night, here is the ESPN link: http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/stor ... acks-brawl

My question is, what do you think should happen to Ian Kennedy(pitcher who hit Puig)? I love baseball but I've never been a fan of hitting batters intentionally. Especially if it's directed at the face. This just seems ugly.

[jbock13]

Same sort of concept when Hamels hit Harper. It's a way of saying, hey rookie, welcome to the show.

It's really nothing more or nothing less.

[flamehunter]

A hit in the head should be an automatic ejection and suspension, intentional or not. You can welcome a rookie with a plunk in the ribs if you want, just not in the head.

[VAGolf]

Same sort of concept when Hamels hit Harper. It's a way of saying, hey rookie, welcome to the show.

It's really nothing more or nothing less.

That's a stupid way of welcoming someone. Baseball needs to start changing, there is no reason for this.

[adam42381]

A hit in the head should be an automatic ejection and suspension, intentional or not. You can welcome a rookie with a plunk in the ribs if you want, just not in the head.

This. A head shot is ridiculous, if intentional.

[Purple Haize]

A hit in the head should be an automatic ejection and suspension, intentional or not. You can welcome a rookie with a plunk in the ribs if you want, just not in the head.

Agreed. Its a time honored tradition. You can see in the video that the pitcher cringes when he hits him in the head. I don't think it was intentional but it should be an automatic ejection

[NotAJerry]

Agreed on the auto ejection. The hit to the head of Greinke should be a very long suspension for Kennedy (30+ days). Greinke should also be gone as it was clear that the pitch that hit Puig was accidental and Greinke is finding himself in the middle of too many bench clearing brawls.

[BJWilliams]

Hamels was what...seven games? I'd say set that as the minimum (without pay) and then up it to 30 days then the season

[jbock13]

How do we know he was aiming at his head? Even the best pitchers struggle with their command. It's not as easy as you think.

Not excusing it, but the that's the origin of the original question

[jbock13]

Same sort of concept when Hamels hit Harper. It's a way of saying, hey rookie, welcome to the show.

It's really nothing more or nothing less.

That's a stupid way of welcoming someone. Baseball needs to start changing, there is no reason for this.

Hitting a rookie has been going on quite a long time.

[VAGolf]

Same sort of concept when Hamels hit Harper. It's a way of saying, hey rookie, welcome to the show.

It's really nothing more or nothing less.

That's a stupid way of welcoming someone. Baseball needs to start changing, there is no reason for this.

Hitting a rookie has been going on quite a long time.

Cool. It should have stopped quite a long time ago then. Usually I agree with you, but I'm going to have to disagree with you on this subject. Simply because something has been going for a long time, is no reason to keep doing said action.

[Purple Haize]

It's part of the game.

[VAGolf]

It's part of the game.

Why does that matter?

[Purple Haize]

It's part of the game.

Why does that matter?

Every sport has its quirks and idiosynchrosies. Hitting batters happens to be Baseball.

[VAGolf]

It's part of the game.

Why does that matter?

Every sport has its quirks and idiosynchrosies. Hitting batters happens to be Baseball.

Still struggling to see how that is a good enough reason to keep allowing this to happen. What would be so bad about stopping it?

[Purple Haize]

They pass out ejection etc. if it gets out of control. I'm struggling to see how you stop it. Pitching machines?

[VAGolf]

They pass out ejection etc. if it gets out of control. I'm struggling to see how you stop it. Pitching machines?

I don't think it's that complicated, don't intentionally hit someone. If it's an accident, don't do it again in that game or you're gone and fined.

Accidents happen but intentionally hitting people is just stupid.

[BJWilliams]

They pass out ejection etc. if it gets out of control. I'm struggling to see how you stop it. Pitching machines?

If it was unintentional then its quite simple to fix...you can either use the rosin bag more or you can get with your pitching coach if its a mechanical flaw that can be addressed prior to your next start. what you are suggesting is either reductio et absurdum or based on a fallacy of the single cause.

[NotAJerry]

Same sort of concept when Hamels hit Harper. It's a way of saying, hey rookie, welcome to the show.

It's really nothing more or nothing less.

That's a stupid way of welcoming someone. Baseball needs to start changing, there is no reason for this.

Hitting a rookie has been going on quite a long time.

Hitting a rookie isn't part of baseball. It hasn't been part of things for decades now except when fake tough guys like Hamels pretend they're old school.

[jbock13]

Guys, I never said it was okay. I simply said that it's part of the game.

Let's take a look at what can happen. From a game last year, where the Rays Cobb hit two White Sox batters earlier in the game, although clearly unintentionally (he struggled, walking many batters). Now, watch how Quintana and Pierzynski answer back.

[youtube]

[/youtube]

Now, there's no way Quintana should have been ejected from the game. But that's how you answer it back. That's baseball. As you can hear, that's why Hawk is frustrated. True, it wasn't in the head, but if you're a batter, you'd much rather be hit in the tricep or the back, which, from a right hander's angle, is not far away from the head.

Kennedy meant to throw it at him, but he didn't intentionally hit Puig in the head.

[flameshaw]

Not sure if it was intentional or not. Back in the day, baseball players policed themselves and it worked pretty good. If you remember watching Don Drysdale or Bob Gibson pitch, the hard inside pitch was what helped them be successful. Sometimes they missed a little and hit a batter, it happens.
BTW, if I am batting and a pitcher throws at me, I want it to be at my head. It is he easiest part of the body to get out of the way. A lot harder to move the middle part of your body.
Finally, it should be ok to hit as many Dodgers as you wish. It is always funny to listen to Vinny cry about it.

[Purple Haize]

Back in the day, baseball players policed themselves and it worked pretty good. If you remember watching Don Drysdale or Bob Gibson pitch, the hard inside pitch was what helped them be successful. Sometimes they missed a little and hit a batter, it happens.

This. It's part of the game. Sort of like flopping in soccer.

[VAGolf]

Kennedy hit Puig in the head.

This is all the information I need to have cause to change.

Additionally, I feel comfortable making the argument that if he weren't trying to hit him in the first place, the ball would have never hit his head. Maybe there's that 1 pitch that simply gets away from you, but considering he hit another batter during the game, it's obvious that this was intentional.

Puig might finally give non-traditional baseball fans a reason to watch. If he would have gotten seriously injured last night, imagine how badly that would hurt MLB. I've always had this idea that baseball is a game of honor and respect. If this is the kind of behavior that MLB wants to endorse, I'll be convinced that there is very little honor in the game of baseball.

[Purple Haize]

Oh no. I got hit with a baseball! The wussification of America continues. There is no place for intentionally aiming for the head or trying to end a career. But other then that? Your too close to the plate? Your getting a lot of inside pitches that may most likely hit you. You show up one of my players? You may most likely get thrown out. Suck it up, rub some dirt on it and move on. Which is what the guy who got hit in the back did.

[jbock13]

Kennedy hit Puig in the head.

This is all the information I need to have cause to change.

Uhhhh... I think you totally just manufactured that quote. What I said,

Kennedy meant to throw it at him, but he didn't intentionally hit Puig in the head.

Second, let's say you swerve into the median with your car and kill someone. Is that murder? No. You didn't intend to, so we call it manslaughter. You can't just pick a causation and imply correlation. Very few times have I ever seen a pitcher intentionally go after anyone's head.