MLB Discussion - 2012 Season

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why DID Hamels hit Harper, anyway? What did Harper do to deserve that? Was it just because Harper was a rookie and Hamels wanted him to know what it felt like to get hit? If Harper's ever done anything that would deserve him being thrown at, I'm not aware of it.

[Alidar Jarok]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Hamels was just being a dick. The problem wasn't that he hit Harper (although I don't know why he did that). The problem is that he admitted it. You just don't do that, no matter how intentional it was.

So his problem was that he was being honest? Basically, MLB should reward lying and not honesty? If his problem was specifically that he hit him, that would make more sense.

As for the reason, he said it was just that he was welcoming him into the league and remind him that he's a rookie and shouldn't be cocky.

[tomalak301]

Josh Hamilton had a 4 HR night tonight, making him the 16th player in MLB history to accomplish such a feat. I saw a few of them (including the last one) and they were just rocket shots. I do wonder when you would start intentionally walking a guy, but it was a moot point by the time he hit the 4th.

[Tom Hendricks]

Yeah, was watching him hit his fourth HR on my iPad as I was watching the Mets comeback on the Philies, while switching back and forth to the Yankees game watching Robertson try and close the game, of course loading the bases before the Ump called the last batter out on a close, outside pitch.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Alidar Jarok wrote:

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So his problem was that he was being honest? Basically, MLB should reward lying and not honesty?

Not lying, more like...just being vague.

If his problem was specifically that he hit him, that would make more sense.

Like I said, pitchers hit batters all the time. Sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. But it happens. It's normal. It's part of the "code". What is also part of the code is never admitting it. That's simply the way it is.

he said it was just that he was welcoming him into the league and remind him that he's a rookie and shouldn't be cocky.

Ah yes, about that...first of all, Cole Hamels is practically a rookie himself (he's only been with the Phillies since, what, 2006?). And what's he gonna do, throw at the head of every rookie who comes to the plate? (Especially since his own manager wishes he hadn't done it?)

That can't be it. There has to be something more to this. Hamels must have felt that Harper did something to deserve it, but I can't imagine what.

[Alidar Jarok]

So MLB suspended him for admitting it not because he did it? Does that really make sense. Five games for honesty? If you were to say that intentionally hitting another player is never allowed, I would at least say that might make some sense.

[Timby]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Ah yes, about that...first of all, Cole Hamels is practically a rookie himself (he's only been with the Phillies since, what, 2006?). And what's he gonna do, throw at the head of every rookie who comes to the plate? (Especially since his own manager wishes he hadn't done it?)

That can't be it. There has to be something more to this. Hamels must have felt that Harper did something to deserve it, but I can't imagine what.

Being a six-year veteran means you're "practically a rookie?" If you live on a planet where crack grows on trees, maybe.

In any event, Hamels is a moron. Not because he admitted to hitting Harper intentionally (please don't babble about "the code" or some crap like that), but because this was about him wanting to be the guy who put the cocky teenage phenom in his place, since this teenager needed to be put in his place for some inexplicable reason. Hamels probably decided he was going to do it when stories about Harper's arrogance in the minors were surfacing. Hamels is an idiot, plain and simple. When Bryce fucking Harper comes out looking like the cool, non-dickish dude in a situation, you know something is wrong.

The Phillies have been throwing at batters for years (and it's not just the pitchers; Rollins and especially Victorino are cheap-shot guys on the bases); I'm just glad one of them got called out for it.

[Scout101]

Fenway Park announcer (since 2003) died of a heart attack today...

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal..._announce.html

[Skywalker]

Aw, man. That's too bad. RIP.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

RIP Mr. Beane.

[Tom Hendricks]

Very sad to hear that, They had a nice tribute to him at Fenway today. On a side note, a really cool thing happen before the Braves-Cubs game today. They gave Chipper Jones the Braves standing flag to Chipper, which I think is a very classy move.

I ment during the broadcast, I know they are away.

[Tom Hendricks]

Bryce Harper hit his first home run last night, a shot to dead center field. He ran around the bases like a rookie should, then the crowd demanded a curtain call. I wonder how his next ten years in baseball will shake out.

[Timby]

God, Major League Baseball is so fucking petty. Turns out they fired Shyam Das, who had been the league's chief arbitrator since 1999. "What's that? You overturn our suspension of this guy on a chain-of-custody issue? FUCK OFF YOU'RE FIRED! "

[Tom Hendricks]

Does his firing really upset you that much, did you even know his name before the story hit? MLB has decided that they didn't like some of the decisions he was making, so they decided to make a change. No big deal, happens all the time.

Timby wrote:

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God, Major League Baseball is so fucking petty. Turns out they fired Shyam Das, who had been the league's chief arbitrator since 1999. "What's that? You overturn our suspension of this guy on a chain-of-custody issue? FUCK OFF YOU'RE FIRED! "

[Timby]

Tom Hendricks wrote:

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Does his firing really upset you that much, did you even know his name before the story hit?

Yes, and yes.

MLB has decided that they didn't like some of the decisions he was making, so they decided to make a change. No big deal, happens all the time.

What a ridiculous assertion. This isn't the first time MLB has sacked an arbitrator (Peter Seitz was fired after he effectively nullified the reserve clause in 1975; Thomas Roberts lost his job after ruling against owners in the 1985 - 86 collusion case), and it sends a chilling message each time it happens. The whole point of including binding arbitration as part of the collective bargaining agreement is to have an impartial third party as the ultimate decision-maker in the event that a dispute can't be settled. MLB's pettiness essentially says, "Issue a ruling we don't like, and we will replace you."

MLB has been livid ever since the Braun decision came down (Rob Manfred said on more than one occasion that the league was exploring "all options" in response to the ruling), so the firing isn't surprising -- just absurd. I think it's pretty clear that Braun didn't make an actual innocence defense, only a non-malicious procedural flaw, which is fine, that's how the system is supposed to work since both parties collectively bargained it to work that way, but it only works that way because neither side actually gives a shit about eradicating PED usage.