<p>You ever have anybody throw a 95 mph fastball up under your chin because you were crowding the plate? If that don’t make you fight you either have a death wish or the reflexes of a mongoose.</p>
<p>I always told my son if there is a fight make sure you aren’t the last one out of the dugout. In baseball it is the fights that keep it from being a blood sport not that make it one.</p>
<p>"I envision a world that is completely peaceful and where violence will not be tolerated "</p>
<p>And how would that violence not be tolerated? Would be send the police with truncheons to subdue the perpetrators and haul them off to jail?</p>
<p>The small near perfect world between the two white lines of baseball is ultimately policed the same way the larger world is policed. A threat is met by a counter threat and violence by counter-violence. Because the forces are so evenly matched on the baseball diamond (or the hockey rink or the football field) violence rarely gets out of hand. You don’t see anyone attack anyone else with a bat. Why? Because everyones got a bat and nobody wants to take it that far.</p>
<p>Now to be sure MLB, specifically the American League by screwing with the rules and creating the designated hitter has probably increased the number of fights. Without the DH the pitcher beaning or brushing back a hitter would sooner or later have to come up to bat and get the same treatment. It might be a long time, even another season but teammates keep track of these things and have long memories:-)</p>
<p>One of the great myths of life is that violence begets violence. The fact is that unpunished violence begets violence. That is as true in the little world of sports as it is in the big world of nations.</p>
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</p>
<p>Yep. One of the worst Little League fights I ever heard about started when the ref said, plaintively, “Well it looked like a strike.”</p>
<p>“Why don’t they encourage 12-year-olds to do the same? I thought that physical fights are acceptable in sports?”</p>
<p>Essentially because any Little League coach I know who thought the opposing coach told his pitcher or allowed his pitcher to throw at a hitter on purpose would kick a mud hole in the guys butt and then stomp it dry. Yes younger players play under somewhat modified rules. Fields are smaller, strike zones bigger, limits on contact etc.</p>
<p>They don’t call it hardball for nuthin’</p>
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I never said anything about <em>you</em> personally attacking me. You’ve twisted the conversation. Also, as I said before, violence is inexcusable in sports when it is not essential. Baseball will survive without physical violence. Period.</p>
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I’d ask to have a moment with him to tell him that what he’s doing is inappropriate and should not be repeated.</p>
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Police brutality is inexcusable unless the police is deliberately and clearly threatened. I would use unharmful chemicals to subdue physically violent protestors. However, my point is that protestors should not be violent in the first place. Some system must be put into place to discourage it.</p>
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I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing it has to do with Little League coaches regretting their actions for encouraging physical fights. </p>
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The fact that younger players can play baseball without resorting to physical fights suggests that physical fights are not “necessary” to baseball, as Thxzpi636 claimed.</p>
<p>'tisthetruth: Come on, don’t be inane. Obviously younger children are discouraged from fighting - it’s far more difficult for younger children to grasp the kind of formalized self-policing involved in fights, and far more likely for the kids to get emotional and make the fight into something it shouldn’t be.</p>
<p>I personally don’t have any problem with baseball fights. Everyone on the field knows the honor code, they either follow it or there could be a fight. There’s no power asymmetry in these fights, no one gets seriously injured (no, bruises and scrapes don’t count), and at the end of the day tensions are resolved. Win, win, win, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Now I am a “girl” and my parents didn’t watch or play organized sports.
The only team I was in school was track- although I have played pick up soccer and once I hit 50 plan to join a co-ed over 50 team.</p>
<p>Ive noticed that many companies now have rec teams, it apparently facilitates communication in the office to let out steam on the field-</p>
<p>Obviously younger children are discouraged from fighting - it’s far more difficult for younger children to grasp the kind of formalized self-policing involved in fights, and far more likely for the kids to get emotional and make the fight into something it shouldn’t be.</p>
<p>From what I have heard about little league it is generally the adults involved in the fighting anyway.</p>
<p>Ive never seen a baseball “fight” that alarmed me, even though the hometown did have Lou Pinella for a manager for several years ( several very good years).
We also had Dan Wilson , who was a great mediator, ( and Randy Johnson the great intimidator)
what a pair!</p>
<p>Ive heard about some pretty bizarre things happening at little league games though.
FOr instance recently the son of my husbands coworker was knocked out by a line drive into his forehead- the dad tried to rush out onto the field but was stopped by the ref. He ran to get ice and slid it onto the field and was thrown out of the game by the ref. The police were called- but by the ref to haul the dad away. ( I think the boy is ok- but the ref was insane IMO)</p>
<p>Ive also heard about parents being thrown out of the game because they are being verbally abusive, to their own kids!- </p>
<p>Compared to that, I think rugby is safe- most of the refs I have talked to play the game themselves, I don’t think some of these little league umps can say that.</p>
<p>( note that I say " compared to that", not that I think rugby is safe- concussions happen way too often- only no concussion is a good concussion)</p>
<p>but bumps and bruises are part of the game- we are physical creatures, we are made to hunt and use our bodies. We weren’t made to sit in front of a computer screen all day & take our aggression out on the roads or on the dog.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to watch a hockey match or a soccer match, don’t- personally I think organized sports especially at the amateur level can be a lot of fun.</p>
<p>My daughter has had the very good fortune to have been involved in teams with fantastic coaches and parents who are equally involved for the love of the game and watching their kids play- not to win at all costs, but to watch their kids having fun.</p>
<p>Baseball is slow for some, and it does move slower than other games- soccer for example. Still the players have to be at a high level of athleticism, not as high as basketball, but I think it is good to let out steam - I would rather see aggression be directly related to the ones affected, rather than say passing a bill that ultimately harms the ones you don’t like, or getting someone else to do your dirty work for you.</p>
<p>Get it out on the field and get it over with.</p>
<p>tis the truth- in prep for your game viewing, I suggest one of the fine books with baseball as a subject
Shoeless Joe for example
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._P._Kinsella[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._P._Kinsella</a></p>
<p>Baseball is the American game- and familar to most of us , and aside from positions like the DH, it is something that our great, grandfathers would recognize.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095082/[/url]”>http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095082/</a>
Id also suggest Eight men out- directed by John Sayles- one of my favorites & a strong cast.</p>
<p>“Compared to that, I think rugby is safe- most of the refs I have talked to play the game themselves, I don’t think some of these little league umps can say that.”</p>
<p>Em, in rugby the ref is god. A Good or Bad god of course.</p>
<p>You aren’t allowed to argue or complain. They must be addressed as sir or maam. They can add distance to a penatly after the call. We once committed a violation just outside the other team’s goal line. Our "hooker " started complaining about the call. The ref picked the ball up and started walking towards our goal. When we finally realized what he was doing, he had walked off 80 yards in penalties and the other side now had a scoring opportunity. We pulled our hooker away from the ref and shut him up. Actually rugby’s a sport where you learn to shut up and play pretty quickly. Not alot of trash talking either. Still my favorite sport. </p>
<p>But you are correct, playing experience does help a ref or ump. You see the game differently and are aware of more things away from the ball. A good ref or ump sees situations as they develope and defuses them. Key words during a match defuse alot of potential problems. </p>
<p>Sometimes you can cut a protest off about a call, simply by saying “hey, I did that myself when I played.” I can’t tell how many times it stopped a player cold in mid complaint, followed by a sly smile and dropping back to play.</p>
<p>I showed my anthro professor this thread, and he found it super hilarious. When I asked, he said he’s not sure he should tell me. Why do you think he found this funny? Did any of you find it funny? I expected him to be concerned about the potential harm baseball fights might do to other members of society.</p>
<p>He probably finds it funny because he thinks the whole thing is a put-on, a parody of concern about an “issue.”</p>
<p>People don’t take me seriously. They’re always laughing.</p>
<p>Guilty as charged! (I was laughing!) Did you watch the video? Almost every one of those “fights” started with a pitcher hitting a batter. It hurts! You hurt me, I wanna hurt you. Those “fights” were quite lame, and they were the top 10 of all time! Baseball is pretty much a non contact game and fights are rare. If you are really concerned about fighting in sports you should start with hockey.</p>
<p>Soccer too.</p>
<p>
…Seriously?</p>
<p>I’ve sat through years of little league baseball. The only fights were between parents/coaches. My s was a pitcher, sometimes an inconsistent one. During one game up in Conn, he hit a batter right in the face with one of his rare fastballs. Batter went down, taken out of the game, icepack, blood, and all that. No fights, no yelling, no problem. As soon as the inning was over, my son ran to the other team’s dugout and asked if the batter was okay and apologized. The coach was taken aback, and our coach walked over briskly thinking there was a problem. After the game, the other team’s coach spotted us in the parking lot. He walked over, shook my son’s hand, and complimented him on what a classy thing that was to do.</p>
<p>Major league pitchers have such excellent ball control that you almost have to assume they mean to hit a batter on purpose.</p>
<p>My son’s last year playing in HS, he hit a batter in the butt with a slow ball. His coach walked out to the mound and whispered, “If you’re going to nail a batter, use your fastball.” Huh? He was so shaken up that he couldn’t hit the side of a barn door the rest of the inning!</p>
<p>Actually I think batters get more upset if you throw at their head than if you drill them in the back. Even with a batting helmet nobody likes one thrown at their chin.</p>
<p>Fights are pretty rare at all levels of baseball. My son who has played or umped probably 1,000 games in the last 15 years has only seen one brawl and that was an American Legion game (19 and under kids). Words get exchanged bu8t that is usually the limit of it. I’ve seen parents tossed from games for being complete …es more than players.</p>
<p>At the professional level though there is more at stake and guys will push the limits to try and gain an advantage. In baseball hitting is literally all about balance and if you can keep a batter off balance you can get him out. He is going to want to hold his ground and the pitcher is going to want to take it from him and your livlihood is on the line.</p>
<p>'tisthetruth,</p>
<p>pick one team and watch their games for the rest of the season, or watch their highlights on Sportscenter or Baseball Tonight, then report back to us with how many fistfights they were involved in. I can almost guarantee that the number will be under 5, probably 1 or 0. </p>
<p>Or better yet, go out and play in a baseball game and get plunked with a 95-mph fastball that was intentional. And then let me know if you’re just going to stand there and say “Oww, that hurt, thanks for throwing at me, I know you’re just upset. I’ll take my base now.” Would you rather see a guy on X team get hit and then in the other half of the inning a guy on Y team get hit, and teams X and Y get into a scuffle (which essentially is what baseball fights are–punches are rarely thrown repeatedly if at all), or would you rather see X team get hit, Y team get hit, X team get hit, Y team get hit, X team get hit, Y team get hit, for repeated innings? </p>
<p>Did it ever occur to you why there are only TEN “top fights” of all-time, and yet there are FIFTY “top plays” of all time? That’s because fights have occured so rarely over time that they’re basically a moot point. </p>
<p>If you don’t understand the game, don’t criticize the game.</p>
<p>If the pitchers are deliberately throwing fastballs at the wrong targets and therefore provoking violence, they should be the ones to stop. I don’t care if fighting is rare. It should never happen. People should learn to control their anger. Scream, cry, meditate, kick the dust if you have to.</p>
<p>I understand the game now, btw.</p>
<p>
Yes.</p>
<p>“It should never happen. People should learn to control their anger.”</p>
<p>Why?</p>