Bean Balls not exactly 'Golden Age'

I'm old school. A pitchers duel is more fun to watch than a home run fest. The mound should be higher. The DH rule is an atrocity and the fences should be 350 at the poles and 425 in center. But this 'throwing at batters is good' falicy, well, I'm not that old school.

Earlier this week, John Lackey was ejected after throwing fastballs at Ian Kinsler with his first two pitches of the game. The umpire's decision to toss Lackey caused a schism between the new and old schoolers.


Funny thing is, the old schoolers have delusions of grandeur when it comes to tossing at guys. I recently heard Bobby Grich say that 'back in the day' if a guy hit a home run, he'd expect to be hit by a pitch next time up. Yeah, and if he struck out, they'd tar and feather him too, right?

The numbers don't exactly add up. In 2008, American League teams averaged being hit by pitches 58 times. In 1955, AL teams averaged only 33 HBP. In '65 it was 31 per team and in '75 it was 32. In 1975 for example, there were 1465 home runs and only 394 HBP in the AL.

I used the AL because our elders say NL pitchers don't throw at people because they have to step up to the plate. This folklore never seems to show up in the numbers. In '08, NL teams averaged being hit 53 times in the NL (58 in AL). In 1975, NL teams averaged 30 HBP (31 in AL).

The number of players being plunked is increasing as well as pitchers' stupidity involved in plunking them. For example, Ian Kinsler, Lackey's victim, has stolen 69 bases in his four year career and only been caught nine times. Good call, especially with Hamilton and Blalock coming up.

Chicago White Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks was fined $750 after admitting to tossing at Kinsler with two outs in a 3-2 game. It doesn't take Sparky Anderson to tell you that throwing at a batter in a one run game isn't bright, but admitting it, that's a special kind of stupid.

Maybe the difference between "head hunters" like Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan and wannabes Jenks and Lackey was that Gibson and Ryan knew when to throw at a guy. Say, up 8-0 in the 4th, not up 3-2 in the 9th.

It's no wonder hitters have to step up looking more like Navy Seals than ball players. Who can blame them for not wanting to get nailed 20 times a year with a 90 plus fastball?

I understand wanting to toss at guys for "disrespecting the game" or wanting revenge for previous bean balls, but doubling the number of HBP's since the "Golden Age" of baseball isn't consistant with those who want to keep the game as it was. MLB should have fined Jenks much more for his unwarrented attempt on Kinsler. (Jenks said he threw at Kinsler because the Rangers hit too many White Sox hitters)

Kind of reminds you of the NFL's policy on late hits and horse collars. Old players act like the league is a bunch of sissies, but at the same time they want more pension money for career ending injuries.

Seems like no matter who you ask, if they played before 1990, they played barefoot with two broken legs in -46 degree weather. Thirty years ago, apparently, men were tougher. I suppose concussions were invented in '93.

Major League Baseball and the NFL need harsher penalties for those who threaten the safety of other players. Fining Jenks $750 is a joke. He probably has at least a G wrinkled up in his baseball socks. The consensus that there is some honor in potentially ending someones career is asinine, and Major League Baseball needs to do more than three-game suspensions for starting pitchers who only pitch once every five days.


For you old schoolers, do you think Rico Petrocelli, whose career was destroyed by a fastball to the eye, wants to see more bean balls? By the way, in 1969, Petrocelli hit 40 home runs and was hit pitch only once. Doesn't exactly match up with what Grich said.


Time to grow up, pitchers. Steroids are still around. Stadiums are being built with "slots," and the umps refuse to call a high pitch a strike. The NL hit 2608 home runs last year, if you bean every guy who hit two in a game, a lot of players are going to end up with severe, unnecessary injuries.