Lackey provoked a fight in 2006 when he commented on
the elbow pad worn by Kendall (flickr)
Interesting article in the Mercury News today, about baseball brawls and what the root of the problems seems to be most of the time: respect.
What are these base-brawls all about?
"Could be what's a clean slide vs. a dirty slide," San Diego pitcher Greg Maddux said.
"Are guys trying to show you up?" Giants pitcher Matt Cain said.
"Are you playing the game the right way," St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa said.
"Do you have to make a statement?" Cleveland outfielder Grady Sizemore said.
The answer is that there is no one answer. The code that teams use in a high-stakes game of policing one another is not a uniform one, and they can stem from the fracturing of unwritten rules to gestures of disrespect.
But at their heart, base-brawls are connected by one underlying theme.
"It comes down to respect," Giants pitcher Noah Lowry said. "No. 1, respect one another. No. 2, respect the game itself. If you cross those two lines, you're probably going to have a price to pay."
The code seems to constantly change. In the 1920s, it was considered bad form for a player to look into the crowd; today, curtain calls are an acceptable practice. In Blue's day, stealing bases with a five-run lead was taboo; now, few leads are considered safe. Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale spent the 1960s establishing their dominance by drilling any batter who hit a home run; now, hitters often gaze at their home runs with no reason to fear payback.
Thus, it's little wonder that what is and what is not acceptable has to be passed down from the elders.
My question to you all is...Do you think there is a place in modern baseball for brawls and if not, what should we do about it?"Could be what's a clean slide vs. a dirty slide," San Diego pitcher Greg Maddux said.
"Are guys trying to show you up?" Giants pitcher Matt Cain said.
"Are you playing the game the right way," St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa said.
"Do you have to make a statement?" Cleveland outfielder Grady Sizemore said.
The answer is that there is no one answer. The code that teams use in a high-stakes game of policing one another is not a uniform one, and they can stem from the fracturing of unwritten rules to gestures of disrespect.
But at their heart, base-brawls are connected by one underlying theme.
"It comes down to respect," Giants pitcher Noah Lowry said. "No. 1, respect one another. No. 2, respect the game itself. If you cross those two lines, you're probably going to have a price to pay."
The code seems to constantly change. In the 1920s, it was considered bad form for a player to look into the crowd; today, curtain calls are an acceptable practice. In Blue's day, stealing bases with a five-run lead was taboo; now, few leads are considered safe. Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale spent the 1960s establishing their dominance by drilling any batter who hit a home run; now, hitters often gaze at their home runs with no reason to fear payback.
Thus, it's little wonder that what is and what is not acceptable has to be passed down from the elders.
With all the money involved in this business, baseball should be really tough when it comes to hitters charging the mound after being hit by a pitch and also pitchers who have a history of hitting batters when they are frustrated.
As the article mentions, many things have changed in modern baseball compared to the way it was played in the past and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Purist might dislike it, but the quality of baseball and the era of specialization has brought another layer of depth to the game and somehow bench-clearing brawls should have gone away, when you consider the risk of injuries and the example it sets for amateur players.
On the other hand, should players really trust MLB to hand out the appropriate punishment when a player is hit by a pitch or any other disrespectful act is committed between the lines?
I'd like to hear you on this topic.
At least this era is over:
Found this on Flickr