Baseball Etiquette?

So you're mad. You just gave up a big home run. You decide to send a message.

That message was simple, throw at the next batter's head. This was done twice in three days. The cowards? Jered Weaver of the Angels, and Carlos Carrasco of the Indians.

Friday night, already down 3-0 to the Royals, Carrasco serves up a grand slam to Melky Cabrera, giving them a 7-0 lead, still in the top of the fourth inning. Billy Butler stands in, and the first pitch offered to him "buzzes the tower." Carrasco is immediately ejected for throwing at Butler's head, and the benches clear out with no further incident afterwards. Butler looked like he was ready to brawl after that pitch.

Fast forward to today's game between the Tigers and the Angels. Earlier in the game, Magglio Ordonez hits a 2-run homer off of Weaver. The ball would hook close to the line, and around the left field foul pole. The distance was there, but to Ordonez, it was a matter of fair vs foul. Because of that, he didn't take off for what would be a trot around the bases. This was twisted as a sign of showboating, something you'll never see Magglio do. Soon after Weaver would have some words with Miguel Cabrera in the ensuing at bat. In the seventh inning, Carlos Guillen hit about as much of a no-doubter as you can at Comerica Park. Unlike Ordonez, Guillen featured a pause, bat flip, and squared himself for a few shuffled steps toward Weaver, and began a nice slow trot around the bases. The home plate umpire was rather wise and issued warnings to both benches, seeing what was transpiring. No matter, as Alex Avila stepped in, on the very next pitch, threw at his head. Again, instant ejection. Angels manager Mike Scoscia is also ejected, a rule in place after warnings are issued for instances like this.

What Carrasco, Weaver, and to a certain degree Guillen did in these instances is beyond the unwritten rules of baseball. Guillen just needed to drop the bat and run. The showboating bit was not necessary, and might have saved Avila from being a headhunting victim. The two pitchers displayed absolute cowardice by throwing at opposing players heads. Clearly, if you REALY want to properly send a message, usually you're planting one of those fastballs in the batter's backside, or perhaps between the numbers. NEVER AT THE HEAD. Jered Weaver has pitched his way towards being an elite pitcher this season, but instead remembers he's a total knucklehead. What a shame, and I hope he enjoy's finishing second or third in the Cy Young voting.

And that Erik Aybar bunt in the eighth inning? Also "bush league", trying to bunt his way to a base hit in the hopes of breaking up (another) no-hit bid by Justin Verlander. It didn't work, sort of, as Verlander threw wildly to first and was charged with an error. In the end, Verlander gave up 2 runs, only 1 lousy hit, and reminded the rest of baseball who the best pitcher continues to be. If you're keeping score at home, that's three times this season he's taken a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Of course he has the one tallied vs Toronto, and we're anxiously awaiting his next one. It will happen.

But in the end, it's necessary to follow the unwritten rules. Although sometimes some people can be remembered for the times they break those rules. I'm sure Jered Weaver won't mind that.