Risk of accidental injury is part of the game, as is pitching inside. All batters risk injury, are you suggesting that only certain pitchers be allowed to use the inside part of the plate, and hitters be allowed to be as close to the plate as they want? Or does that only apply if the batter is "valuable"?

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If a pitcher has control issues, as Frieri has according to his catcher and manager, he should not be pitching inside, especially HIGH AND INSIDE. Given the situation in that game, there would have been no reason for any pitcher to pitch high and inside. The risk is not worth the reward. It is said, and understood throughout MLB, that you pitch to the situation. Up by five, one out, nobody on base, just doesn't warrant a high and inside pitch. Unfortunately, the crybabies in Pissburg and in the media just don't get that. They want to minimize the injury to Goldschmidt. Risk of accidental injury IS part of the game as it is in life. However, in life we recognize and punish negligence, which is exactly what Freire's pitch was. McCutchen and the Pirates had a problem with the retaliation because it came at an unexpected time. Should Goldschmidt have expected a high and inside pitch given the game situation? NO, why would he. Maybe if he had he would have gotten out of the way.

Finally, there is really no such thing as an accident. They are poor executions of questionable thought processes.

I dont agree with Ron. Pitchers have the right to throw inside. Its part of the game.

That being said - if said pitcher plunks someone, his team shouldnt cry when retaliation happens.

Exactly. They need both sides of the plate, it is a pitcher's by right, they don't need to earn it.

The biggest problem is that sports media doesn't have enough content to fill all their time so they need to blow things up to get their view and page counts up. Every butthole in the world has a blog and they all suck. Everyone knows the unwritten rules of beanballs but at the same time we all lose our minds when someone actually talks about it. It's all nonsense.

Thats kinda how I feel about it....Pitching inside is part of the game....You would be wise though to make sure you know where the ball is going,because if you hurt somebody you are going to catch some payback....

I was suprised how much of a baby McCutchen was about the whole thing...Back in the day,the guy would have gotten hit and got up and ran to first like it didnt even hurt...He acted like he was shot with a hunting rifle..lol Clutching his back,pounding his fists into the ground,throwing his bat,nodding his head and talking crap,ect...Also,I dont understand why he was suprised to be hit late in the game...Why would we want to get our starting pitcher tossed so early?

Back in the day Cutch probably would have wrung the little bastard's neck.

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There's no success like failure
And failure's no success at all

That was definitely an alternate means of controlling beanballs. I'd bet that the media would have different opinions on who can/can't charge the mound these days against what pitchers

Of course pitchers have the right to throw inside. However, if they can't control inside pitches and come in high and tight that right comes with potential retribution. I think teams are less likely to retaliate against a control pitcher who has one get away from him than a pitcher who has control issues and has a habit of hitting guys. The right he loses, so to speak, is his teammate not getting drilled for his "accident". I think the same goes for teams. If a team has a history of hitting batters, accidental or not, they lose the right, so to speak, of feeling safe from retaliation.

Heard Gibson on Gambo's show this afternoon and it sounded as if his gripe is not with inside pitches, but rather with the HIGH and inside pitch. I agree with him. Martin not only set up inside on Goldschmidt's AB, but also set his target (glove) just a few inches under the letters on Goldschmidt's jersey.

Unless your name is Greinke, and the batter's name is Quentin

If the pitch hit anywhere near where Martin setup there wouldn't be a problem.

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There's no success like failure
And failure's no success at all

http://arizonasports.com/164/1756253/ES ... rlds-Worst

I really hope if the mediocrity doesn't do Gibson and Towers in, the bad press and reputation the team is getting because of them will.

Please. It would make it all worthwhile.

Maybe even a complete culture shift away from all this grit shit too!

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Kevin Towers, not smarter than the so called experts

Serious post?

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Might be the greatest post in the history of this board

Yes. I find the attitude of advocating for the protection of players under any circumstance and promoting the unwritten rules of baseball to be toxic and is certainly not conducive to fielding a good team . I'm hoping KK at least sees that the rest of baseball is talking about the D'backs for all the wrong reasons, and the Pittsburgh series has only amplified the discussion.

I couldn't disagree more and it appears MLB does too as I haven't heard any word of fines/suspensions. If you're walking down a dark alley at night, I'm the guy you want walking with you because you'd know without a doubt that I'd have your back. I expect the same from my friends and would want the same from a teammate. It's called loyalty.

I've always wondered though why in the NL it's not the offending pitcher that takes the payback pitch in the back. That would stop it a lot faster.

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“Baseball is drama with an endless run and an ever-changing cast.”
― Joe Garagiola

This is such a strange situation...The sports press doesnt seem to know the facts or even care about them...I think its telling that Clint Hurdle isnt even mad at the Backs....He has come right out and said that there is no proof that Cutch's new injury has anything to do with getting drilled by Delgato and as far as us paying them back for Goldie,He considers it part of the game...."Baseball takes care of itself" is what he said.....Alot of this is KTs fault for getting on the radio last winter and saying all that stupid stuff about hitting guys....

"Baseball takes care of itself" might be a subtle way of saying that this is not over, without the KT/KG chest thumping.

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There's no success like failure
And failure's no success at all

I think I didn't properly articulate what I was saying yesterday. I think there's a huge difference between the standard of sticking up for your teammates, and what KT and Gibson are advocating for. When the discussion starts leading to alienating or shaming players or leads to selling out to find coaches and players that express "grit", then I think the conversation is not the right conversation that good teams have. All we'll end up with is a team full of David Ecksteins.

Eh...Maybe,but I dont think so...They had a guy with crappy command throwing up and in with a five run lead with one out in the 9th and they D.L. our best player....More teams than not would give some payback over that....I think its over with...