Quick pitch?

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

1 out, first base open, slow runner on deck. The HBP was a de facto unintentional intentional walk IMO.

Don't forget R3. They needed a DP to get out of the inning, and with Posada on deck, well...as Drysdale once said, why waste 4 pitches when you can get the job done with 1? IMO it was an intentional plunk.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

as Drysdale once said, why waste 4 pitches when you can get the job done with 1?

Ah yes, the golden age of baseball, when men were men and the batters were nervous. Bob Gibson said he would throw at his grandmother if she dug in at the plate. Nowadays all the multi-million dollar contracts make wusses out of all the hitters, with all the elbow guards and crowding the plate, then they whine about getting brushed back off the plate. They are forgetting that the pitcher owns the inside corner and the batters need to stay light on their feet when leaning out over it.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by GA Umpire

I don't think it was on purpose. And, I don't think a warning would have come if ARod would have just gone to his base instead of looking into his dugout. As if to say, CC you better return the favor. His actions alone brought on the warning, not the pitch hitting him. Notice when Lidge hit Texierra and he just went to 1B. Nothing came from it.

Even the pros have them get away from them. Especially, if they are trying to be so fine of where to put it and not try to make a mistake. Also, I doubt Blanton wanted to come so close to even getting to ARod's head. It hit pretty high on the arm/ribs after ARod stood straight up.

One of the first lessons I learned in D1 baseball was that when somebody got plunked in a "traditional" plunk situation, and it went through MY head that MAYBE they were sending that message pitch, that it was also going through a lot of OTHER heads (offense and defense), and that that might be a great time to issue a warning. Especially on the amateur levels where safety is paramount, that ounce of prevention, while not always 100% correct, was always 100% the smart thing to do. That's 30 years of my two cents worth.

JJ