Was Prince Fielder Right to Charge the Dugout?
The baseball world is full of surprises. Over the years, we’ve seen many unexpected things take place, and 2009 has been no exception to the rule. One of the most common occurrences in 2009, relative to other years, has been batters being hit by pitches.
Fans may not think much of this as the batter automatically takes first base for their team, but the experience of being hit by a major league fastball is quite painful for the baseball players. No one could easily take a pitch of the sort, especially depending upon where it’s been thrown.
This year (2009) there have been a ton of batters hit by pitches, some resulting in injuries, ejections, fines, and the occasional fight/revenge. Most of the time when a batter is hit it is because the pitcher lost control of the pitch but then there is always the reason of taking out the other team’s players or rivalry.
One of the scariest incidents in 2009 involved a pitch that hit Scott Rolen of the Blue Jays directly in the head. Rolen was forced to miss quite a few games after this ordeal. Dustin Pedroia nearly suffered from the same fate, but was quick enough to dodge the pitch at the last second. The next pitch, however, struck him in the side.
Another more recent incident that riled up baseball fans was Prince Fielder’s hit by pitch situation. The Brewers led the Dodgers 17-4 late in a meaningless game, and Manny Ramirez was hit by a pitcher for the Brewers.
During the next inning, the Guillermo Mota Dodgers decided to go tit for tat by hitting Brewers star Prince Fielder with a pitch in response. Fielder seemed to think nothing of the incident, as he took first base with no reaction. After the game, however, Fielder went straight after Mota in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.
Mota has a history of hitting batters at the plate, and actions like this must be reprimanded. Fielder felt the pitch was intentional, and so did fans watching the game.
Based on my knowledge of the situation I agree with what Fielder did and think that by fighting back on some of the intentional ones there would be less players hit by a pitch. Now due to Fielder’s outburst they have nine security guards outside the Dodgers clubhouse.
