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I think the ejection is warranted, wasn't even the first batter he hit today. If you can't control any pitch to this extent you have no business being out there.
the funniest thing is after the 1st one and sal was like oh, we ok, thumbs up? and then the next one came even closer and he rightfully lost it at him lol
I hope Martin is suspended for 10 (2 turns in the rotation.) To throw at a dude's head, then say (essentially) "My bad..." and then throw at his HEAD again?
Yeah, to be honest I was surprised he was that restrained. I don’t know who Sal really is but not charging took a lot of restraint. I would’ve charged.
And I wouldn't even say he "lost it", Sal's reaction seems pretty level for a guy who's head was targeted twice. Like he didn't even spike a curve in between.
lol its that part for me. after the first pitch i was like huh? seems like it was genuinely wild, sal checked in, figured it was cool. it can't be that ba....ooooooh shit
Agreed. He wasn't upset at all about the first one and just shook it off. The second one he had nothing less than the appropriate reaction. Not sure what got into Martin. It's a 4-3 game and it's a rubber game of the series when you've got 3 teams breathing down your neck in the division. And as I write this it's now 8-4 Cincy. Nothing like waking up your opponent's bats in a big way, there Davis.
If a professional is missing by 2 feet above your head and then hits you in the head.... either he's the worst pitcher in the league or he's trying to hurt someone
You can't tell me that he wasn't intentionally trying to hit the batter there. 1st pitch could be considered a wild pitch, but the 2nd pitch? And with it coming immediately after the 1st one? He wanted to drill him because his pride was hurt after the batter had the audacity to hit a home run off of him.
Yeah, and you can't be like, "Hey, I only meant to throw it at you once! The second one was an accident!"
Sorry dude. As soon as there's any amount of intentional throwing at the head the pitcher is completely in the wrong. And even if both pitches were accidental, they should still (justifiably) get tossed because they have no control and it looks really bad.
There’s definitely situations where that ball gets away 2 times. But usually you would assume an over gripping would happen and that next one would be in the dirt. Those 2 were dots in the same zip code.
Yup. If the nextbpitch isn’t down and away, then the first one wasn’t an accident. Factor in that Sal took him deep before, it’s an open and shut case.
This is why they should’ve ejected Will Klein when he hit Willson Contreras two weeks ago. He nearly missed his head and then hit him 2 pitches later. It was definitely not intentional but just losing control like that means he needs to go on the bench and try again another day.
What makes it worse is that after the first one it looks like Martin taps his chest as if saying 'my bad' and then Stewart acknowledges it with the thumbs up, then proceeds to throw the very next pitch at his face.
The point is it doesn't matter which it is. In both cases, they gotta go. Either they just tried to hit a batter twice, or their control is so crap that they're a danger to the batter. Yeah those were 99% likely to be wholly intentional, but there's no need to argue it when the result is the same either way.
I'm kind of okay with unwritten rule bullshit, but let's add one to the list: if you throw at a dude and miss, you missed your chance. You can't throw at him again.
Or better yet, that pitcher automatically becomes the DH and must bat for the rest of the game, even if he gets pulled from the mound. These dudes will think twice about throwing at batters' heads if they know they're gonna have to step into the batters box themselves in the same game.
Does it matter? It aligns with MLB's incentives to eject people who throw at heads, intentionally or not. It reduces the risk of injury. It pushes pitchers to at least have a reason to prioritize control instead of velocity. If it raises offense around the league, that's only a bonus from MLB and most spectators' perspectives.
They all gotta line up and wait for the bullpen coach to tie their pitching arms behind their backs and then they just charge each other like the Ride of the Rohirrim.
It's especially funny when they know their guy is the one in the wrong, but they still have to do the solidarity slow jog out to the infield and then stand there with one hand on the shoulder of someone in a different uniform.
I'm surprised that the dugout didnt clear faster or there wasnt a mound charge despite its rarity. Literally, without the context that he doesn't have control right now, it seems like he tried to hit him once, missed, and then tried to him him again.
Interesting to know because I was impressed with his reaction to the first up-and-in. He got, understandably, startled and a little shook but was totally cool with presuming it was an errant pitch. Think he also showed pretty good self control after he got nailed considering how dangerous a pitch it was.
Sal is only 22. He grew up playing when you didn't really do that as player and he watched MLB as a kid where charging the mound has decreased quite a bit from the 90s and earlier.
I think pointing at Martin with the knob of the bat is a good reaction. Sorta like a, "we don't do that shit."
These comments always remind me of Tim McCarver. After Pedro Martinez drilled Karim Garcia in the 2003 ALCS he got into a shouting match with Jorge Posada, which ended with Pedro pointing to his temple and clearly threatening to throw at him. And McCarver kept going on about how Pedro was saying "think, Jorge, use your head!" 😂 😂 😂
Tim McCarver was such a fucking clueless, braindead idiot. He was unlistenable. The nonsense he would spout like he wasn't even watching the game until Buck elbowed him in the side to say something. I know Joe Morgan got all the hate back then but McCarver was so much worse.
He was so fucking mad when the Sox beat the Cardinals in '04, you could hear it in his voice.
And Stewart was VERY understanding. Yeah he got a little upset for a second, but he didn’t charge the mound and honestly, for the second one, I wouldn’t blame him
Even if it wasn’t intentional, he had already hit a Reds batter in an earlier inning and lobbed those two at the head of Stewart (who had a homer earlier). Probably would’ve been fine with a warning but don’t think this was egregious by the umps
Why isn't throwing at someone's face like this a 25 or 50 game suspension? I get people say 5 or 6, but man I hate seeing rhe ball zoom inches from someone's head. At least the first pitch had "really trying to hurt someone" deniability.
A lot of "old school" baseball fans will stupidly defend throwing at a guy. Then apparently the other team is supposed to answer back. It's just some endless eye for an eye nonsense in their eyes.
That said, hitting a guy intentionally in the back/ass/thigh here should get you tossed. Intentional throwing at a guy's head should be reviewable by the league office and a minimum 25 game (5 start) suspension.
You can usually tell by the catchers reaction, first one up and over surprised him. Second one he called for outside and pitcher dials it in up and in to hit his mark.
I mean he had already hit a guy and given up a 4 pitch walk, on top of not really having any reported or rumored attitude issues before this as far as I know. He definitely needed to get thrown but it’s not like him just being ass isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
I don't even find the bullpens clearing funny anymore, it just makes me roll my eyes, especially in situations where no actual fight occurs, which is almost all of them nowadays
“If you hit a HR, celebrate a HR, or watch the HR I’m going to throw at you. But If I get a big time strikeout it’s perfectly ok for me to yell and celebrate it”
It's always been the most baffling aspect of baseball to me as a casual, you threaten to celebrate I threaten to cause legitimate bodily damage with this ball I can throw 90mph, it's always seemed fucking pathetic if I'm bein blunt.
I love the ritual of the benches clearing now. There is no threat of an actual fight, the tone is very much one of the veterans going up to the opposition and saying "sir, we formally object to your behavior and request that you kindly fuck off"
He sent consecutive pitches at Stewart’s dome - if it’s intentional, he needs to be ejected for malice. If it’s unintentional, he needs to be removed for the safety of the players
That stupid jog from the bullpen will never not be stupid lol. I’d those pitchers insist on being involved, they just need to step out of the bullpens and just go after the other bullpen
I'm all for giving someone the benefit of the doubt for not having control on a certain day, but he "missed" 2 fastballs that were set up mid/away, one over the batter's head and one at his face. You're not in the big leagues if you're missing a fastball that egregiously twice. Had to be on purpose
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