Juuuuuust a Bit Outside!

Some issues can't be ignored. Some stories are too big, too important, too real. Some stories just hit us right where we are, and we're compelled to take notice, even in a two-bit blog like Flogging, But with a "B".

And some stories (click here for the better write-up, here for the best pictures, and here for the full video clip) are just too easy. You read that right (unless you didn't read . . . punk), a "batter" (yes, he DID play for the Phillies for a bit, as it turns out . . .) attacked a pitcher (and this is just embarrassing, but he played for the Phillies for a while, too) with a baseball bat in a minor league game, injuring both the pitcher and the catcher, who was apparently attempting to have his pitcher not be hit in the head with a bat. And as you might guess, I have thoughts.

1) Seriously, why is there no video clip? I know it's independent league and nobody cares, but how can something like this go uncaptured? Is this or is this not 2007? Don't they tape pretty much everything? How does a dude attacking a pitcher with a bat turn out to be immune from moving pictures? Sounds like some sort of conspiracy/cover-up to me, a little bit like the whole area 51 deal or Jose Mesa's real age. I demand an explanation.

2) I hope it goes without saying that I don't condone physical violence in an otherwise friendly game of hardball (I guess it didn't go without saying . . .). That said, I have to have a certain surge of admiration for the guy's consistency. After all, my four biggest pet peeves in baseball are 1) walks, 2) failing to drive in a runner from 3rd base with less than two outs, 3) having a runner thrown out at the plate with less than 2 outs, and 4) guys acting all tough but without any real intentions of bringing the hammer. Look, it just doesn't exactly take alloy cajones to look back at your dugout and yell "Somebody better hold me back . . . no really, I'm loco, don't you know, and I mean it . . . somebody really better hold me back soon now before I do something . . .". Everybody gets all excited, the benches are warned, and . . . that's it. Yawn. The way I see it, there are exactly two acceptable responses to getting plunked: 1) brush it off, go down to first, and win the game (preferred); or 2) charge the mound and throw real punches. Well this dude took number two to a whole new level. He really, legitimately intended to do physical harm. Which, again, I don't condone, but at least he threw his whole self into the task with some degree of commitment and legitimacy.

3) People's reactions/quotes are even more priceless than the episode itself. Here's a sampling:

From the dude who swung that bat at the other dude:

"It was one of those moments that you want to forget."
Oops! This, above all else, is what he'll be remembered for.

"I didn't have any intentions and I feel sorry for what happened and the way it happened."
No intentions? Dude, you ran at him with a baseball bat. Swinging! That is the VERY DEFINITION of intentions!

Regarding hitting the catcher: "If he got hit it was because he tried to run behind me and take the bat, and that was an accident. I don't [sic] mean to hit him. I was facing the pitcher and I never went to hit the guy."

First of all, IF he got hit? You mean the guy with the concussion? IF he got hit? Let me help you out here bro -- the concussion wasn't from clapping his hand to his forehead in disbelief -- he got hit. It happened while you were swinging the baseball bat at the other man's head. Also note the way the phraseology subtly places all blame on the guy who got hit in the head with the bat. It isn't "I hit him," it's "he got hit", and it's not "because I was swinging that bat at his teammates head" (taking grammatical responsibility for the bat which was whipping through the evening sky, attached at one end to his own hands), but "because he tried to . . ." (grammatically placing blame -- "because he" instead of "because I"). Still, it's good to know that you didn't mean for that to happen, though. Indeed, it was a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT human being that at who's head you were swinging the baseball bat. Pretty much excuses the whole mess, doesn't it? "Look grandma, I didn't MEAN to knock you off of your hoveround with my SUV -- I was trying to hit that OTHER pedestrian, and you only got hit because you were trying to have me NOT cause him severe head trauma. So your bad and we're cool, right?"


From the pitcher:

"I've never been so surprised in my life. As soon as he got hit in the calf, he raised the bat above his head and ran toward me to hit me with the bat."
I don't exactly know why, but that quote just cracks me up. Like "Really? What in that sequence of events could possibly be considered surprising?"


From a Major League baseball player:

"You take a bat out there, you can get blackballed from baseball. That's deep."
Here we are again -- trying to inflict physical harm is generally ok . . . unless you take measures that make achieving your objective legitimately possible. Now THAT's stepping across the line, buck-o. If you're going to try to hurt somebody, make sure you sabotage the operation right from the beginning.

4) Somehow, I have four baseball pet peeves, but only three thoughts here.