Yankees can do more to protect batters from being hit by pitchers
The New York Yankees, as the preeminent baseball franchise, must do more to convince MLB to help protect batters from being hit by pitchers.
In 1920 shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians, who was known to crowd the plate, was only 29 when he died because he was unintentionally beaned by Yanks pitcher Carl Mays.
Thankfully, almost 100 years have passed without another MLB batter losing his life. According to Adam Felder of the Atlantic:
"” This has less to do with improvements in player safety and more to do with dumb luck.”"
Nonetheless, a number of players have been seriously injured both unintentionally and intentionally (often difficult to prove either one) by opposing pitchers.
For example, Tony Conigliaro, who played outfield for the Boston Red Sox, missed the rest of the 1967 baseball season when he was struck by California Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton. He suffered permanent eye damage. He was the American League’s youngest home run champion in 1965 at 20 years old. Though he resumed playing baseball, Tony C was never the same player again.
In 2000, Mets catcher Mike Piazza was beaned by the Yanks Roger Clemens. He suffered a concussion and painful headaches. He was forced to miss the All-Star game that year.
Also, on July 24, 2012, Alex Rodriguez fractured a bone in his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. He was out for about six weeks during a crucial part of the season.
Numerous other examples of serious injuries from being hit by both unintentional and intentional pitches exist.
Unfortunately, there is a high probability that we will witness another Ray Chapman incident in the near future unless something is done. There are at least four reasons why another fatal beaning in MLB will likely happen soon.
First, the number of batters hit by pitches has been increasing over time. And the number of MLB batters plunked is expected to rise in 2018 given how many players have already been hit this season. This alone suggests that another fatal beaning is imminent.
Second, many more pitchers than ever are throwing in the mid-90s and harder. In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals Jordan Hicks recently threw two pitches (sinkers no less) 105 mph, equaling a younger Aroldis Chapman in 2010.
Third, while it is true that the quality of safety equipment has improved and more players are wearing head guards of various configurations, many if not most are only doing so because they have already been seriously injured by a pitch (e.g., Giancarlo Stanton as a result of being hit by Mike Fiers in 2014). Of course, by then it is too late.
Despite improvements in safety equipment, a large number of batters choose not to wear additional protection.
Finally, unlike the NFL and NHL, MLB has refused to protect its players and substantially increase the penalties for pitchers (and their managers and clubs) who hit batters intentionally.
Granted, it is sometimes hard for umpires to distinguish between pitches unintentionally and intentionally thrown at batters. Yet, umpires are already making such decisions.
And players who wear extra protective equipment can minimize the potential for serious injury.
MLB should carefully study this issue and determine whether ballplayers should be required to wear certain safety equipment at a minimum. Just wearing a standard helmet may or may not provide enough protection. This needs to be studied.
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The development of clearer guidelines for umpires would help differentiate the motives of pitchers and help standardize umpire judgment across both the American and National leagues.
However, most fans would agree that today’s penalties for pitchers who intentionally hit batsmen are weak. A ten-day suspension for a guilty pitcher, for example, might only result in missing two starts and maybe only one start depending upon when the suspension goes into effect and the team’s schedule during the same period of time.
Substantially increasing fines and suspensions for guilty pitchers, fining and suspending the manager for one or more games, and significantly fining the ball club as a whole will help deter pitchers from throwing at players on purpose. Ending the “let’s get even culture” must also take place.
Why should the Yankees care?
It is in the self-interest of the club to care. It now has many more great players than the recent past, and we are expecting more to come. Those players might increasingly become targets by opposing pitchers as their batting averages and home run totals continue to climb, earning the jealousy and resentment of other equally fiercely competitive teams and players. What if a Yankee batter is severely injured, ending his career? Whose fault would that be?
Furthermore, as a model baseball franchise with an illustrious past, it is the responsibility of the Yankees owners to publicly take the lead in demanding that MLB take stronger actions to protect the safety and health of all baseball players. Privately, Yankees owners should try to persuade other individual club owners to do the same.
Although the NFL is now finally taking significant actions to protect their football players, it dragged its feet far too long and was too slow to act until the widespread nature of the concussion problem was uncovered. All across the country, parents are now wondering whether they should allow their children to play football at any level. As a consequence, the NFL’s reputation has been tarnished, and it is still trying to recover.
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There is real potential for the reputation of MLB to similarly suffer if the unthinkable should happen (i.e., the death of a player) when it could have done something proactively to prevent or at least minimize the possibility of the fatality from occurring in the first place. For everyone’s sake, the time for the Yankees and MLB to act is now.