Someone Gets It

You might remember the brawl between Hunter Strickland of the San Francisco Giants and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals that took place on Memorial Day this year.  If you don't, check it out because there were a ton of layers to it.  It wasn't just a standard fight...this thing was discussed for a week or more.

The reason we bring it up again is because Mike Venditti of Sporting News "gets it."

Venditti wrote an article shortly after it thanking the Nationals for not abiding by the unwritten rules of baseball and throwing at people in response (something discussed in previous posts).  The biggest take away from the article is that Venditti understands what the biggest revenge is in these types of situations:  winning the game.

Instead of retaliating the next day, the Nationals came out and beat the Giants.  That's how it's done.

The article discusses this issue in more detail, comparing the brawl to other bench-clearing incidents earlier in the season.  But there's one more point that should be made.  Venditti then calls out people who think that brawls are the only exciting part of baseball.  It goes to the fact so many people think baseball is boring.  His answer?  Baseball isn't for you then, and that's okay.

If you're the type of person who just can't get into baseball unless a bunch of man-children in polyester are fighting, why do you even bother?  If you're that bored with baseball and are that concerned about the pace of play, why do you watch?  Go do something else...

...Which is ironic because people who like to fight or retaliate on a baseball field should go do something else too.