Had a friend who brought her three young children to their first ball game last night. I was a little concerned that their first experience included a brawl, but they were Canadian and big hockey fans so my guess is that it didn’t faze them one bit. They probably appreciated the helmet throw as well.

Family friendly or not, a guy has to protect himself. While he was reacting more than protecting, in moments like that it is understandable if one loses control. I was watching, reading, and listening to the reaction from outside the area last night and I was not too happy with what I heard. One national guy in one breath defended A-Rod’s passing out in the delivery room (Mrs. A-Rod told the story to a NY newspaper. Man, she is fun. Her get even not mad moves in dealing with the wandering A-Rod are priceless. I mean really, painting the picture of a passed out, super image conscious A-Rod, wet towels on his forehead, being fanned by her mother while she heroically gives birth to his second child, sorry I digress, but it is just too good!)

Anyway, the commentator while laughing at A-Rod said it was completely understandable because until you witness a birth you have no idea how you are going to react in the delivery room. Well this same clown mocked Richie and called him scared for going after Gabbard last night. He said that it was obvious the pitch was not going to hit him so he was a clown for reacting that way. Really? I think, like the delivery room, until you step in against a major league pitcher and actually have the ball come anywhere near your head, you have no idea how you are going to act.

Richie was angry and I don’t blame him. I have seen him countless times put his head down and trot grimly off to first after being hit on the arm. Doesn’t even look at the pitcher, just goes. Richie is anything but a hothead, in fact he is almost downright mellow. But when a ball comes in at head level, regardless of how close it comes, I don’t blame him for seeing red. This wasn’t a move to get his team fired up, this wasn’t frustration with his or the team’s performance, this was purely the guy on the hill trying to hurt him and in a dangerous manner. You don’t throw at someone above the shoulders. Period.

I saw Richie turn to protect himself before the ball came across the plate. He had no idea if the ball would go inside or outside but he knew it was head level. I like a lot of you have played a little bit of baseball before, but until I spent a week at Mariners Fantasy Camp I had very little idea personally of what these guys see when they face a professional pitcher. You face many levels of player at camp. I had only played softball before so it was different stepping in the box. Oh yeah, I had never faced a male pitcher either so that was very different. I spent my first couple of games not exactly jumping out of the box when the pitch was thrown but you could say that I wore out the bucket I kept stepping in. The guys were throwing for the most part in the 60-70 range, but a couple could get it up closer to 80. Any idea I may have had in the past that I could hit a Jamie Moyer change up was quickly wiped out of my head. What looks slow on TV is not.
As I got more accustomed to the speed I could stay in there and actually did get a couple of hits. Right when I was getting confident my team had to face the best pitcher in camp. I believe he had played college ball and was on one of the top men’s league teams at the time. I stepped in ready to hit. As he released the ball I realized it was coming right for my shoulder. I jumped straight back, looked down and watched as the ball as crossed the middle of the plate. Slider. “Damn,” I thought, “Baseball is hard.”

On the final day of camp everyone gets a chance to face a pro. When my turn came up it was 6’6 260 lb former Reds pitcher Brad “The Animal” Lesley who was on the hill. He was throwing in the mid 80’s and needless to say, the first pitch froze me. With fear. Second pitch was a victory for me. I fouled it off. Okay, straight into the dugout as I was just a little late, but I got bat on ball. The third pitch blew by me and that was that. I am so glad I got the experience. It by no means makes me an expert, but I have some idea of the feeling of what it is like to see the ball come at you at 80 plus. It was in my head that if something went wrong, I could get very hurt.

Imagine seeing the baseball coming at you and something has not gone wrong. The baseball is coming at you with a purpose. There is an element of this game that is not talked about because it is too scary to talk about. It is something that cannot be front of mind because if it was, for that individual, his career would be over. While not front of mind and not spoke of, it is still there. How can it not be? Every hitter who steps in knows that the ball in the hand of the man on the hill could do great damage to them. Everyone who steps in knows deep down that ball, if something went horribly wrong could land them in a hospital for a very long time. Could end their career. Could take away their quality of life. Or worse.

There is a trust put in the man on the hill. The hitter may not know him, may never have talked to him, not know the first thing about him, yet he puts so much in his hands. The last thing the pitcher wants to do is hurt someone as well. It cannot be in their heads either otherwise they would never be able to let go of the ball. Richie saw the ball coming in at head level. Regardless of how close it was, it was head level. 6’8 head level. Come on, you have to try to get it up there. What Richie didn’t know at the time, but the cameras caught was that the catcher had thrown down a funny sign. Not a one or a two but more of a snap and twist. Gabbard shook him off. Laird threw it down a second time, emphatically, with a wrist snap. That ball was not a mistake. Or maybe it was because it came across the plate. The only thing Richie knew was that it came in head high. He had the acute awareness that something very bad could happen. The trust had been broken.