People who think the ball went off of the batter’s helmet are just not seeing what the ball is doing. It is clearly not “glancing” off the helmet. Batters duck at pitches that are over the plate, let alone a little bit inside. His reaction is nothing like what you would expect for a ball coming at his helmet. Get real.

I’ve played ball for most of my life, and umpired a little bit. I’ve got lots of perspective here that many of the commenters clearly don’t have. No diss on them. That’s fine.

But I’m tellng you. From my experience–as a ball player, umpire, and coach–this was clearly intentional. None of the signals of a wild pitch are there. The catcher, the batter, the umpire, the base-runner. None of them behave like it is a wild pitch or a pitch off of the batter’s helmet. It simply isn’t.

The pitcher and catcher involved clearly should be sanctioned. To the fullest extent available to the league. And any college that recruits/signs them should be questioned by their alma mater.

This is a slam dunk. No doubt.

Apples and oranges. The mask is there to protect the Umpire and a pitch off the mask is no more likely to harm him than a foul tip, which happens rather frequently in the normal course of baseball games.

You clearly have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

Did any of you laugh in the movie ‘the longest yard’ when Burt Reynolds continually purposely threw the ball at the groin of the defender rushing the passer? Was that a criminal offense? Should it not be tolerated? Seriously some of you people need to get a grip on what is important.

You are actually comparing a movie to an actual, real life, situation where an umpire could have been killed?

You are out of your mind nuts. You have no business even commenting here. You have no concept of what you are talking about.

I’m appalled that anyone would even laugh at this, let alone condone it. You are sub-human.

ThackerAgency on June 12, 2008 at 1:52 PM

The official has a mask. He wasn’t injured because of the mask.

ynot4tony2
Ahhh…I guess that’s why no boxer on the face of the earth has suffered a concussion or died in the ring. After all, their opponents wear gloves!

Apples and oranges. The mask is there to protect the Umpire and a pitch off the mask is no more likely to harm him than a foul tip, which happens rather frequently in the normal course of baseball games. A boxer’s gloves, however, are there to protect the boxers’ hands not their brains. Most bar fights last one punch and the most common resulting injury is a broken hand. Boxers’ fists are taped rather solidly, and then they put on gloves that can weigh up to 16 ounces. The gloves, in fact, make it a more dangerous sport because while the glove somewhat cushions the blow, its added weight increases the force of impact. Gloves, because they protect the hands, allow a boxer to deliver a much worse beating than with unprotected hands.

It’s an interesting legal issue. The judge will have to claim that his injuries deserve compensation due to the malicious intention of the act even though such injuries are an accepted risk of baseball in the case of foul tips.

Umpires are rectal orifices. If the guy really thinks it was intentional, then he should file criminal charges.

In any case, beaning the ump is as old as baseball. Joe Garagiola has told stories about conspiring with pitchers to hit an ump with a pitch – and that was in the major leagues.

The game has changed. Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson would have a hard time in today’s game because of how the league protects prima donna home run hitters. Gibson owned the inside corner.

Ironically though, I believe that the AL’s designated hitter kind of encourages throwing at batters, since a pitcher knows he’s never gonna get drilled himself.

ThackerAgency on June 12, 2008 at 1:52 PM

The official has a mask. He wasn’t injured because of the mask.

Ahhh…I guess that’s why no boxer on the face of the earth has suffered a concussion or died in the ring. After all, their opponents wear gloves!

A mask doesn’t prevent all injuries. Put on an ump’s mask and stand right in front of a pitching machine. You’ll likely be injured.

The official has a mask. He wasn’t injured because of the mask. This ‘outrage’ is absurd. I’m outraged at the outrage. . . even if it was intentional – which there is no way. He was punished whether right or wrong.

ThackerAgency on June 12, 2008 at 1:52 PM

I agree that this is no big crime. I do feel the league should do something about it because it’s poor sportsmanship and against the spirit of the game. However as a former pitcher, at that age, I could easily put the ball where I wanted it, paint the corners, a little chin music, or in the umpire’s grill…this absolutely could have been intentional, and I’m still going with my opinion that it was…

and I’m still saying this is silly.

If you think it was intentional and it was OK as a payback for supposed bad calls then you I want you stay away from my kid’s league.

8straight on June 12, 2008 at 1:21 PM

What I don’t get is what horror of horrors happened here? Are you people so petty that something like this causes your blood to boil? Even if it was intentional – impossible, what’s the big deal? What crime was committed? I don’t get it.

We have kids setting up other kids for You Tube clips to literally beat the crap out of each other, and you people have outrage at some supposed ‘horror of horrors’. It’s BASEBALL. It’s a GAME. Nobody was hurt, everybody is still standing in the clip.

Did any of you laugh in the movie ‘the longest yard’ when Burt Reynolds continually purposely threw the ball at the groin of the defender rushing the passer? Was that a criminal offense? Should it not be tolerated? Seriously some of you people need to get a grip on what is important.

The official has a mask. He wasn’t injured because of the mask. This ‘outrage’ is absurd. I’m outraged at the outrage. . . even if it was intentional – which there is no way. He was punished whether right or wrong.

I guess it would have been more appropriate if the umpire had charged the pitcher and catcher with RAPE.

Dude, it’s obviously intentional.

Where you saying he meant to hit the batter or the umpire? If you are saying he meant to hit the umpire, then I would love to know what school he went to to figure out the exact angle to bounce it off the batters head in order to hit the umpire.

Dang conspiracy stories seems to be taking off with the Internet now.

So now it’s OK for umpires to sue players. GREAT.

if it had hit him the ball would be dead and the runner wouldn’t be able to advance, unless there was also a runner on first, in which case it would be a walk, and there would be no need to run. These kids are pretty old and well aware of the rules of the game.

or the umpire could be blind, didn’t see it, and made yet another BAD CALL. Yes if the batter was hit, he should take the base and all that you described. . . but not if the umpire didn’t call it that way.

I’m still going with unintentional wild pitch. There were too many moving parts, and I don’t think the pitcher could have hit the umpire if he had tried. The announcer was even talking about a 2-3 inch strike zone cushion as though this pitcher was having control issues. If he’s having control issues, beaning the umpire in the face while he’s moving with a breaking ball is near impossible.

I’ve umpired for several years. Thankfully, nothing like this ever happened to me.

Watch the batter after the ball hits the umpire. The batter stays in the box and IS MOTIONING THE RUNNER TO TAKE THIRD BASE.

Let me tell you, these kids know enough that if the ball hits them, they are taking their base. The ball would also be called a “Dead Ball” and the runner does not advance to third.

I’m still going with intentional, I’m still going with not criminal.

Even when signs were misread and I was expecting something else, even on a huge amount of wild pitches, I was able to get leather on the ball, or was at LEAST reaching in the right direction.

That said, I think this can all be dealt with in the league. Suspensions for the 2 involved and the coach, maybe even barring them from playing for the following year, but I don’t think this is “criminal”.

Why was he wearing a mask to begin with?

Is it reasonable to assume that the mask might be hit with a ball or a bat?

Is it reasonable to assume that the mask being hit by a ball or a bat is a risk consistent with what one might normally take when they stand behind the plate at a baseball game?

-
as far as the catcher, I don’t know how many of you play baseball but the reason he is on his knees or close to it, is so the bat doesn’t clean his clock, only idiots would stick there money arm up there and try to grab a wild pitch, where the batter may swing… especially to save an umpire’s feelings.
-
the mask did it’s job and if he says he’s hurt, he’s full of it.

KaptainAmerica

Ditto. I’m not going to lose any sleep over this.

Yes. I’ve seen hockey players fire the puck at the ref. I assure you that a frozen puck hitting a relatively unarmored person at any rate of speed fracking hurts.

But before you get too bent out of shape, the officals are considered part of the ice surface…

But one time, as I scooped, the ball left my hand early, and I beaned the baserunner directly in the helmet, sending him tumbling.

The other team though I had done it on purpose, but honestly, I had not. I mean, that would have been a HELL of a throw, to bean a fast-moving baserunner while throwing off my back foot going the opposite direction.

In short, sometimes what LOOKS intentional isn’t. I’m sure the guy I beaned still thinks I did it on purpose. And if there was video of it, I’m sure it would LOOK like I aimed for the guy’s noggin.

But… there’s no crying in baseball. And no “I’m sorry,” either.

I’ve had pitcher throw a fastball instead of a curve and had similar results but mostly the ball hitting me in the mask.

It looks like the pitch grazed the other batter’s helmet and ended up doing exactly what they wanted it to do. The only explanation I can make for the catcher’s actions is maybe he figured that it was about to bean the batter, in which case who knows where his bat is going to go in self defense.

Moonbat_Hunter on June 12, 2008 at 7:58 AM

Ethan Martin is the pitcher’s brother, and he had argued with the umpire over his last strikeout. The batter was the other team’s catcher, a kid named Taylor Hightower. Here’s what he said about the incident:

Hightower didn’t see the pitch hit Scott, but he heard it. “It hit him solid,” Hightower said. “It wasn’t a nick; it was full-on impact.”

He doesn’t mention getting hit with the ball himself.

Ethan Martin (the batter) says he’s sure it wasn’t intentional.

Not a story, but makes for a fun discussion. I think it’s interesting how quick everyone is to assume a conspiracy and to assume that someone is doing something sinister…