Agonotheta

Boston Brouhaha

October 13, 2003

I'd like to make a comment on the situation that occured during Game 3 of the Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees game.

I'm sure that I have a much different take than most people.

If you didn't see it, I'll give you a quick breakdown. The Boston Pitcher, Pedro Martinez, threw a fastball, straight at the batters head, Karim Garcia. Fortunately, the pitch nicked the batters back harmlessly. Nevertheless, he was hit and got a free trip to first base. The next batter then hit into a double play, where on his way to second, Garcia attempted to break up the double play as every good little leaguer has been taught. However, Garcia, took it too far and tried to "take out" the Red Sox Second Baseman. Words were exchanged. Tempers flared. Tension was felt by all. Nothing happened, though, before the Yankees received their third out of the inning.

Retaliation came quickly when Clemens delivered a pitch "high-and-tight" to Red Sox Outfielder Manny Ramirez. Hysteria ensued. Said hysteria included benches clearing with each player choosing his favorite target on the opposing team. The scuffle that brought the most attention was the one between Sox Pitcher Pedro Martinez and Yankees Coach Don Zimmer. That's right, I said Coach. Zimmer was so angry over the beanball thrown by Martinez, he thought, he'd go give Martinez a knuckle-sandwich to let him know. The problem is that Zimmer is 72 years old and Martinez only 31. Martinez simply side-stepped the punch and threw Zimmer harmlessly (somewhat) to the ground.

I've tried to be as "fair and balanced" as I could in my retelling of the story. Now, its my turn to sound off. First, I'm a baseball purist. I love the history of the game. I'd love to get back to the way baseball was 70 or 80 years ago. I don't want to get too far off topic, but obviously, there are many problems with modern day baseball (commercialism, doping, corking of bats, "juiced balls", etc.). These topics couldn't be covered adequately in a book, let alone a blog.

But the "pure baseball" I've read about, involved the "brush-away pitch", the beanball, "chin music", whatever you want to call it. This was done in the old days by throwing a pitch dangerously close, if not directly at a player to send a message to the opposing player/team. This was all part of the game. This was also a different era. Pitchers (and all players for that matter) weren't babied like they are today. Most pitchers played other positions as well. They were tough. In fact so tough, that they would even bat for themselves. Imagine that! Not like today when pitchers in the American League don't have to stand in the box and face the same (chin) music that the rest of the players do. Today, if a pitch is too close to a batter, a pitcher can be removed from the game. I certainly don't want players to be hurt, thats not what I'm saying. I simply feel that athletes today are spoiled and that bothers me.

Yes, Pedro's pitch was dangerously close to Garcia's head. Yes, Garcia tried to retaliate on an innocent player by sliding dangerously close to him. Yes, Clemens threw his pitch close, albeit, not as close as Martinez, to a player on the opposing team. Guess what? Its all part of the game. At least it was a half a century ago. And I believe it should be today.

Which brings us to the Martinez/Zimmer rumble. A lot of sports commentators out there are saying that Martinez was in the wrong for throwing an old man to the ground. In fact, NYC Mayer Michael Bloomberg said Martinez should have been arrested for assaulting an old man. Are you kidding me? I watched the altercation live and I recall seeing Zimmer swing first at Martinez. I'm not a lawyer, but I've always understood the law to say that you can defend yourself, which is exactly what Martinez did. He certainly could have swung at Zimmer, but he didn't. He seemed to show some restraint in that respect. Furthermore, what was Zimmer doing all the way over by the Red Sox dugout? He was the one who searched out Martinez, not the other way around.

This may be a moot point, but I feel that the problem lies with the rules and state of the game. If a pitcher in the National League throws a beanball at a player, he'd better hope he gets yanked out of the game before his next at-bat because he'll get Mr. Spalding tattooed across his forehead. Not so in the American League. Will the recent fines stop the beanballs? Of course not, they've been thrown for decades. Sorry, Zimmer, being an older player, from a different generation, you should know this.

One last thing, I know I probably sound like a Sox fan, but believe me, I'm not. Nowhere near it. Just a fan of the game.