We've all seen it before, a batter hit by a pitch in baseball.
A rather inconsequential part of the game, an accidental occurrence most of the time when it happens. However, baseball has always accepted and informally protected the Hit By Pitch (HBP) as a form of self-policing in the game. For example, another unspoken offense in baseball is for the batter to make an exaggerated showing of watching a home run as it leaves the park. If a pitcher on the opposing team feels the batter made too much of a deal over the homer, he's likely to plunk the batter (or someone else on the team) with a pitch, on purpose. Of course, pitchers will always tell the media the pitch "got away from them", and they never meant to hit the batter. This is how it goes, how it's always gone, and Major League Baseball has decided to let this issue lie undisturbed. It has remained of the few unregulated forms of policing in all professional sports, and a source of some interesting debates for many years.
Last night however, one of baseball's rising stars, 19 year old Bryce Harper was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat of the night by Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. Harper took his base without incident, and later stole home after Hamels attempted a pick off at first base. Hamels would later incite a firestorm of criticism by saying he meant to hit Harper, as a "welcome to the big leagues" statement. The media today is abuzz with criticism of Hamels from Washington GM Mike Rizzo and former pitcher Curt Schilling, who call the plunking a "punk act" and wrong.
Hamels may likely earn a suspension from the league, not for the plunking itself, but for the confession of purposefully trying to hit Harper. This sort of occurrence begs the question; has self policing in baseball gone too far and finally outdone its usefulness? Hamels said he plunked Harper in defiance of Major League baseball's attempts to "protect" certain players and change the "old school" way of baseball. Is hitting a batter the only way to make a statement in this game anymore? Hamels was absolutely dominant in the game, going 8 full innings while giving up only one run (the Harper steal of home) and striking out 8 Phillies. Why was it not enough for Hamels to dominate the Phillies, a premier team in the NL, and if so, why is it okay to endanger another player deliberately for the sake of making a statement? In every other professional sports league, cheap shots and illegal hits often get penalized, and if they go unpunished, it should be written off as a fault of the league instead of giving the green light for some vigilante retaliation. I'm a Red Wings fan, and I was upset as anybody when Zetterberg was beaten at the end of Game 1 against the Predators in a very cheap fashion. I gave a good holler at the TV, expected a big punishment from the league the next day, but no, the offender got a $2000 fine. Yes, it sucked that justice was not served, but it doesn't merit violence in return. As soon as players start going out of their way to punish other players and cease to let the league handle punishment, the game becomes a circus.
But here is where I see a problem. the Hamels plunking last night was a perfect example of a player not doing anything illegal or taking a cheap shot yet still facing some form of "warranted" retribution? Harper gets plunked for the way he entered the league and Hamels not liking it, Yoenis Cespedes makes himself a target for watching his own homer, a monstrous blast deserving of Sportscenter? Are player supposed to apologize for hitting a ball 430 feet? If a pitcher doesn't like a batter celebrating a home run, then they should take steps to pitch better and not leave a pitch in the zone.
As a fan of baseball, I have seen countless times where a batter has been purposefully hit by a pitcher, and sometimes has suffered injury for it. This form of self-policing has gone too far, I feel, because pitchers now have this unregulated power to dole out punishment as they see fit, and possibly even injure other players. Players at every level should be content to let their play do the talking, and leave the cheap shots at home. If they can not restrain themselves, then the league should take a much closer look at this rampant practice and suspend and fine players as necessary.
