The Dodgers Needed a Testosterone Shot and Got One

Men behaving badly would be okay with me. But it's not okay when men have to resort to that behavior merely to prove their manhood. What a charade the whole "retaliation pitch" situation was in game three of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers. At best, it kept the Dodgers from having their virility questioned.

Here's the scene: the Phillies wouldn't stop testing the Dodgers to see if they would fight back and keep the Phillies' pitchers from throwing at, near and over the bodies and heads of the Dodger hitters. It started in game two on Friday night in Philadelphia and the Dodger pitcher that night didn't retaliate by plunking one of the Phillies hitters. That became a problem among the very manly men who populate the sports world.

In game three at Dodger Stadium, the Phils ramped up the bean ball activity by actually hitting the Dodgers' star catcher in the leg with a fastball. The kid was also the victim of a nasty inside pitch in his next at-bat that made him jump back to keep from getting hit again. At that point he lost his composure and weakly hit a ball to the shortstop for the final out of that inning. He was madder than hell and expected that his team's pitcher was going to do something about it. Apparently the Dodgers' strategy of trying to win games without throwing at the opposing team's batters was not going to suffice. Like a victim of a school yard bully who tests his victim to see if he will stand up for his right not to be tormented, the Dodgers had to fight for their manhood or be laughed out of the stadium.

The broadcast announcers were egging on the Dodgers to throw at someone. Los Angeles sports writers had called for the same thing in the morning's newspapers. Every old timer who played the game before retaliation became a last resort rather than an accepted practice was yelling at the screen for the Dodgers to show up the bully. They all asked why Dodger manager Joe Torre wasn't instructing his pitchers to throw back and protect his players from absorbing more punishment. Joe, who generally shrinks from that kind of behavior had no choice at that point.

Thus, it was not a matter of whether pitcher Hiroki Kuroda would throw at someone but who it would be and where the pitch would land. Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino was the victim and the ball sailed behind and above his head, much like the pitch thrown at Manny Ramirez in game two. All the critics who were reaching for testosterone supplements to give to the Dodgers were happy and we could all go back to our regularly scheduled ball game that was still in progress.

When all was said and done, the Phillies stopped plunking Dodgers, the Dodgers felt like card carrying members of their gender and the game went on to its conclusion. Why does this go on at all? When the bully team knows it will stop as soon as the victim smacks back doesn't that strip any meaning from intimidating hitters at the plate with pitches that are meant to keep them from focusing on what they are doing?

But I'm happy for the Dodgers. They can go on with their series without the necessity of performance enhancing substances. Not steroids mind you, but the ones that are advertised incessantly in TV ads to offer men assistance when they can't seem to perform like men. Cialis anyone?

Follow Paula Duffy on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jurisdiva

Comments

[LeeCee]

I realize this is part of the game to a certain degree but I think in this scenario it got well out of hand. It will continue until the commissioner's office puts its foot down or someone gets seriously injured. Umpires need to exercise their best judgement on 'purpose pitches' vs. 'balls that got away' but something needs to be done.

[RobinSeattle]

This written by someone who has never stood in against a 90mph fastball or taken someone out at second on a double play. You realize that without retaliation you invite the opposition to keep plunking your best hitters, right? Ask Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell, whose career was just about ended by hand injuries from inside heaters. Dickie Thon and Tony Conigliaro did lose their careers when they were beaned. Ray Chapman was beaned by Carl Mays and was killed. And you want to give pitchers carte blanche to do that? Are you nuts?

And you know that intimidation is part of pitching in MLB, right?

You cannot stop pitchers from throwing inside, either, since they need that part of the plate and a little off to stop hitters from extending and hammering the ball into orbit.

What we need in MLB is a Dan Gladden rule. When Gladden was an outfielder with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, he was beaned by an opposing pitcher and it set off a very ugly brawl. The NPB poobahs, tired of these violations of Japanese decorum, enacted a regulation where any pitch that hits someone in the head or is close enough to have been deemed "dangerous" results in an automatic ejection. So the pitcher gets punished (he is also fined and can be suspended in extreme cases) without this nonsense in MLB where nobody can throw inside after the umpires warn the two teams.

[pickabar]

Actually, baseball is a tough sport in it's own right. Why is there any need to compare it to football?

Anyone who has had the experience of standing with a bat in their hands while someone throws a rock at them from sixty feet away will testify to that. Having the ball hit the bat too near the handle sends incredibly painful jolts through your hands and arms. Have you ever had someone run full speed into you while you're not looking at them because your trying to catch a throw from the outfield? It's jarring. Whether that impact was a jarring as one that would be faced in football, or ice hockey, or rugby doesn't strike me as important. Baseball doesn't need to "pretend" anything and I resent the implication that baseball is somehow a soft sport.

Pitching inside is definitely important for keeping batters honest with regards to outside pitches. It's just as important that it contributes to the very real fear of the ball the a batter is faced with when he steps into the batter's box. Great pitchers like Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez built their careers on intimidation as much as stuff. None would have been as effective if players were able to step to the plate in suits of armor.

Baseball fights are pretty pathetic, though.

[Lon]

The announcers were very childish on this subject. It has long been the habit of baseball to glorify a past time when pitchers were more willing to purposely bean pitchers. Why baseball feels the need to pretend it is a tough game like football isn't clear. (Given that baseball players are largely atheletes it has always been somewhat funny to see the brawls that break out and the degree to which the players can't or choose not to fight. Few baseball brawlers would make it as hockey brawlers).

But the pitching inside plays a more complex role that simply trying to shake the confidence of the hitters. A lot of hitters now take their stance close to the plate in order to be able to get solid contact on outside pitches. If pitchers are afraid to pitch inside to them for fear of hitting them, they lose the inside of the plate, where they are afraid to throw and the outside where the hitters are setting up to hit.

So a willingness to throw inside, and let hitters who are too close to the plate get out of the way, is a fair and necessary technique. It is only the macho posturing that goes with it that is silly.