Ubaldo drills Tulo: Bush league at its worst

Only in certain occasions is intentionally hitting a batter considered OK. The main case would be for retaliation. If your teammate was intentionally hit, then in my eyes, you have the right to hit a batter on the opposing team, but still never above the shoulders. The ideal spot to hit a batter, the place where you can get a message across, but not have it be a bush league play, is on the thigh.  This is the area where it would cause the least amount of injury to a hitter. I never agree with pitchers throwing high at batters. The potential for concussions, broken wrists, and major injures are too high. I understand the need to protect your teammates, but it must be done with caution. On the other hand, hitting a batter still doesn’t logically make sense. In a real game, why would you give the other team a free base runner? The message an intentional plunking gives is clear, but that can be sent with a glancing pitch, like an inside fastball. This gets the message across without giving the other team a base runner.

                Ubaldo Jimenez still has issues with the Rockies. They did not give him a huge contract extension, but gave one to Tulowitzki and to Carlos Gonzalez. There has been a back and forth in the media between the Rockies and Ubaldo. Tulowitzki recently got involved and stood up for the Rockies. Ublado brought his anger to the forefront by intentionally (most likely) hitting Tulowitzki on the elbow during a SPRING TRAINING game.  I have never in my life heard about anyone intentionally hitting someone during spring training.  He was suspended for 5 games once the regular seasons starts. While 5 games for a hitter would be a lot, 5 games for a pitcher means only 1 missed start, so it is not as big of a deal. For such a dangerous play that could have sent Tulowitzki to the DL, Ubaldo is essentially only missing 1 game. I find these sorts of plays extremely bush league, and he should miss more than one start. Jimenez states he tried to go inside to Tulowitzki and accidentally hit him, but also says that he won’t apologize. It’s not easy to tell if a pitcher intentionally threw at a batter, but there are some signs. Sometimes you can tell by his pitching motion and his release, and other times you can tell by his reaction after he throws the pitch. In this case Ubaldo not only hit Tulowitzki, but then immediately threw his glove off and ran towards the batter’s box. While the only person who really knows if it was intentional or not is Ubaldo, his actions afterwards did not help his case. If it was intentional, and it most likely was, it was an extremely bush league play by Ubaldo. These sort of things need to be stopped. There is no room for these kinds of dirty plays in baseball, or in any other sport. But the problem lies in determining if it was intentional or not. There will always be a doubt, and that is why the suspension will never be big enough to get rid of this kind of play.