Since we have haven't heard, read or written enough about the pitch that Matt Barnes threw behind Manny Machado's head, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez has chimed in with his opinion on the subject.
"I would react the same way except I would try to keep the ball lower. The ribs _ the ribs down. Butt cheek. Legs. But ribs," Martinez told the Boston Herald. "I aimed all the time to the ribcage _ boom! And I was a sharpshooter, too. You rarely saw me right over the head. It would be the ribs."
None of that is a new concept. Martinez is simply casting himself as an old-school guy, and the old school favors retaliation for a suspicious slide or a purpose pitch. Even though pretty much everyone concedes that Machado was not trying to hurt Dustin Pedroia last Friday night at Oriole Park, the unwritten rules are the unwritten rules.
Which are ridiculously archaic.
We now live in a world where we know the horrible short-term and long-term consequences of a serious concussion. We also live in a baseball world where the macho benefits of hitting some guy to show a teammate you have his back is far outweighed by the competitive disadvantage of the multigame suspension that generally follows.
Martinez was one of the greatest pitchers ever and he was a tough guy on the mound in spite of his diminutive size, but he hasn't been out of the game that long. It's no longer the Stone Age and the commissioner's office should put an end to this kind of foolishness by throwing the book at anyone who tries to hurt an opposing player.
Just don't throw it at anybody's head. Just the ribs or the butt cheek.
