Throwing at players just comes natural in baseball
Don Durham, an ex-Major League pitcher, feels that more hitters are getting beaned than ever before -- a feeling he does not share alone -- but it's not likely a readily available statistic that can be measured. He was once ordered to throw at a player other than a batter, by his manager, Billy Martin.
Has anyone noticed the unusually high number of beanings taking place in this year's edition of Major League Baseball?
Baseball -- more than any other sport -- has been described in the past as a game of statistics. While I'm not sure if "cranium-rattlers" are in the category of kept information, right up there with Most Lifetime Broken Bats, someone being plunked in the head seems to be a part of the daily highlight reels more so than ever.
"More batters are actually being hit, it appears," said Don Durham, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1972) and Texas Rangers (1973). "I don't know how much of it is coming from management, or from the pitchers."
Durham, who operates an automobile body repair shop in Nashville, Tenn., once pitched alongside Bob Gibson, a hard-throwing Hall of Fame right-hander, feared for his inside "purpose pitch."
"Gibson would yap at the batter," Durham said. "He'd let him know if he had a problem with him. I'd say he was the best known in his day of all the pitchers who didn't mind coming inside chest high."
Statistics aside, Durham said pitchers feel justified in throwing at batters for reasons that have not changed much over the years.
"Everything depends on the circumstances of the day. Someone who tried to show you up in a game in the past might be a candidate today, a hitter who hotdogs it around the bases after a home run, or it might be that you are getting beaten up so badly that you want to show your displeasure."
Durham remembers an unusual order he was once given at the pitching mound from Rangers Manager Billy Martin.
"He had me throw at a runner," Durham said. "That was a first for me."
Whatever past ill deed the runner had done, Durham, in unleashing at his target, wasn't informed.
"Our second baseman, Dave Nelson, caught it instead of letting it hit him. Martin jerked me right out of the game. He made his point but he wanted it known he didn't really want to hurt anybody."
Like most pitchers, Durham prefers to talk about his hitting. But, unlike most pitchers, he has something to talk about. He batted just 14 times but sported a .500 average to go with his seven hits, two of which were home runs.
"That was pretty good for a skinny little guy who wasn't supposed to be able to do such things."
Good enough to be feeling some high heat after another time or two in the box.
Baseball -- more than any other sport -- has been described in the past as a game of statistics. While I'm not sure if "cranium-rattlers" are in the category of kept information, right up there with Most Lifetime Broken Bats, someone being plunked in the head seems to be a part of the daily highlight reels more so than ever.
"More batters are actually being hit, it appears," said Don Durham, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1972) and Texas Rangers (1973). "I don't know how much of it is coming from management, or from the pitchers."
Durham, who operates an automobile body repair shop in Nashville, Tenn., once pitched alongside Bob Gibson, a hard-throwing Hall of Fame right-hander, feared for his inside "purpose pitch."
"Gibson would yap at the batter," Durham said. "He'd let him know if he had a problem with him. I'd say he was the best known in his day of all the pitchers who didn't mind coming inside chest high."
Statistics aside, Durham said pitchers feel justified in throwing at batters for reasons that have not changed much over the years.
"Everything depends on the circumstances of the day. Someone who tried to show you up in a game in the past might be a candidate today, a hitter who hotdogs it around the bases after a home run, or it might be that you are getting beaten up so badly that you want to show your displeasure."
Durham remembers an unusual order he was once given at the pitching mound from Rangers Manager Billy Martin.
"He had me throw at a runner," Durham said. "That was a first for me."
Whatever past ill deed the runner had done, Durham, in unleashing at his target, wasn't informed.
"Our second baseman, Dave Nelson, caught it instead of letting it hit him. Martin jerked me right out of the game. He made his point but he wanted it known he didn't really want to hurt anybody."
Like most pitchers, Durham prefers to talk about his hitting. But, unlike most pitchers, he has something to talk about. He batted just 14 times but sported a .500 average to go with his seven hits, two of which were home runs.
"That was pretty good for a skinny little guy who wasn't supposed to be able to do such things."
Good enough to be feeling some high heat after another time or two in the box.
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