Seth Stohs wonders if there is a baseball equivalent to the football bounty. The thought crossed my mind last night when I heard about the NFL suspensions.

One of baseball’s unwritten and very well known rules is that occasionally a pitcher will be instructed to hit an opposing player with a fastball in retaliation for one of his teammate’s being hit. Do you remember in 2006 when then-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was so upset at rookie pitcher Sean Tracey for not throwing at an opposing batter that he sent him to the minor leagues and never called him back up. Around the same time, Guillen was very upset at veteran Jon Garland for not hitting an opposing batter in retaliation.

If you recall, Guillen was not suspended or fined for his comments, lashing out against his players for not hitting opponents.

Others have noted that the game of football is being threatened by lawsuits brought over injuries, especially concussions, at the high school and college level. If schools start dropping football due to liability costs, the supply of players to the NFL will start drying up. The NFL doesn’t need lawsuits brought against the league due to bounty hunting, so they are trying to get ahead of the issue.

Concussions have become a concern in baseball as well, and a player getting hit in the head with a pitch is a good way to get one (or worse). I would not be surprised if in the future, MLB made an example of a manager who ordered retaliation against a batter.