Baseball '09, Volume XII: Because It's What Men Do

The Giants' playoff hopes, if not necessarily diminished, recently encountered new obstacles after a weak home stand in which the Giants barely staved off sweeps from the lowly Reds and the morally-repugnant Dodgers, matched with another late-season surge from the Rockies.

It's tough to say at this point if they will keep up the challenge. But they have at least provided the drama of hit-by-pitch vendettas with the Dodgers and Mets.

Against the Dodgers last Wednesday, it appears that James McDonald threw at Pablo Sandoval, presumably for the purposes of intimidation. And then yesterday, after Matt Cain hit David Wright of the Mets in the head (on an 0-2 count, when logic dictates he would be going for an out), Johan Santana threw behind Pablo Sandoval, clearly in retaliation, and then, after both benches were warned, hit Bengie Molina, ostensibly unintentionally and without punishment.

Pablo and Bengie both hit key home runs in the Giants' extra-innings victory.

Here's my question about these sorts of tactics and retaliations: why?

The first instance, that of intimidation, if it is done for that reason, that's just bad sportsmanship. And in the question of retaliation, eye-for-an-eye justice, the argument is that pitchers have to protect their teammates, both psychologically and physically, as part of a code.

It's just stupid. You're playing a game. What part of playing a game should involve attempting to hit the other team's best players, with the obvious exceptions of football and hockey? This isn't exactly dodgeball or kickball in the playground when you play with big red foam-rubber balls.

Furthermore, the idea of baseball is to get the other side out. Hitting a batter gives them a free base runner, and, because baseball officially frowns on retaliation, it can lead to ejections of a manager and/or pitcher. Call me crazy, but that seems like it would be at best a Pyrrhic victory to hit the other team's batter, give them a baserunner, and get yourself ejected from a game.

People will argue that it is part of the game; that it is part of being a man and sticking up for your team; that it is an intangible element that can truly impact the course of a game and a season, and therefore must be utilized for the Machiavellian pursuit of success.

This is stupid. True, probably, but still stupid.

It's an outmoded notion that speaks to the visceral hatred of the other side, regardless of all the talk about codes and honor. Codes and honor, by the way, are often predicated on stupid premises themselves.

I think the people who regard this code of manly behavior as being the right thing to do are the same people who consider Born In The USA to be a completely patriotic, uncomplicated 4th of July Bar-B-Que-and-beach anthem.

The argument will be that sports are passion, that this aspect of baseball will never go away, that I'm being overly idealistic and naive to argue against it. Yes, and? Just because there is an evil in the game, that doesn't mean I have to accept it as necessary.