Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 26, 2006
Watson to Meet With Mesa

I don't think this is needed:

Bob Watson, head of discipline for Major League Baseball, is expected to be at Citizens Bank Park today to meet with right-handed pitcher Jose Mesa and discuss disciplinary action for Mesa touching off a beanball incident by hitting shortstop Omar Vizquel of the San Francisco Giants with a pitch Saturday.

If you say you're going to hit a batter every time you face him, and you do it three out of three times, there's no doubt it wasn't by accident. I would say after the second time, Jose needed to get a long suspension.

Mesa needed to be told after the first beaning that the next time he hits Omar, he's out of baseball. Why it's taking so long is beyond me. Vizquel's life could be in jeopardy here.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:51 AM | Baseball Jerks | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I disagree with the idea that Mesa should have received a long suspension. Mesa is teaching Vizquel that what happens in a locker room is sacred and shouldn't be shared for large amounts of money.

I have posted on this site many times. Though I am of a ripe age of 26, I am old school. I didn't have a chance to see Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson, Bob Feller, or the likes pitch. But I can say one thing, each of these pitchers would have done what Mesa did. I know there are risks of injuries, but this is baseball.

I do not think this baseball is the same game as played by the above mentioned players. If it were, players like Barry Bonds would not stare at his homeruns. If he did, the batter following him would be plunked and he would plunked on his next at bat. Get a few hundred of them, with the bruises, and you might think twice of showing off a pitcher. The same thing goes for a dug-out. What happens here, stays here.

Posted by: Bob at April 26, 2006 09:31 AM

Bob,

"Old School" may not be exactly like you have been told.

Posted by: Terry at April 26, 2006 10:02 AM

Mesa is a nut case. He should be out of baseball.

Posted by: DPG at April 26, 2006 11:53 AM

Mesa needs to be suspended. If he hits Vizquel again, he should be out of baseball. Beanball wars are unacceptable. It's just childish. I understand backing a guy off the plate, thats fine. Accidents happen, and that's understandable, and retribution and reciprocation isn't necessary. If Old School is better, hell lets say no more batting helmets. Come on, this is a safety issue. If a guy stares at a home run, you know what? Don't bean him. K him. Make him look silly on a dirty slider. This is a game, its about showmanship and entertainment. If a guy yells at you something, or charges the mound and laughs in your face, thats too much. But if he stares at a HR, well, he hit it. And if he's wrong he's gonna look stupid trying to hustle to 2nd.

Now back to Mesa...if he says he's going to hit someone, on purpose, that's a threat. If he does it, repeatedly, that's assault. Just because you're on a ball field doesn't mean you get to attack someone every chance you get. That's not part of the game.

Posted by: kevin at April 26, 2006 12:10 PM

Omar has more class in his little finger than that punk Mesa can find by searching every second of his pathetic life. My only wish is that Morris didn't have to waste those two pitches to protect his 10 time gold glove SS but could have aimed them directly at Mesa's ridiculously fat head. I would say from the reaction of the two hit batsmen, just taking the base without charging Morris, that Mesa's whole team thinks he's an idiot.

Posted by: Joel at April 26, 2006 01:51 PM

Bob --

Not a lot of the pitchers threw at people's heads -- and if they did, the practice was wrong. One of the people you mention, Walter Johnson, was known for never deliberately throwing at a batter at all. And the famous incident between Juan Marichal and Johnny Roseboro was preciptated in part because, after Marichal hit a couple of Dodger batters, Koufax didn't retaliate, and so Roseboro threw a ball back to the pitcher purposefully close to Marichal when Marichal was batting. So Koufax wasn't much for throwing at people either.

Posted by: Capybara at April 26, 2006 01:56 PM

the mesa throwing at vizquel is NOT a team thing.

it is personal - got NOTHING to do with rockies/giants. that is VERY different.

and mesa needs to get his butt suspended for a VERY long time

Posted by: lisa gray at April 26, 2006 05:03 PM

WORD

Posted by: nick at April 26, 2006 06:18 PM
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