There are enough injuries in baseball already. A deliberate act of violence against another player while on the playing field can simply no longer be condoned.
And that is what charging the mound after being hit by a pitch is--a deliberate act of violence. It should not be punished with a slap on the wrist.
Most (if not all) batters who charge the mound after being hit by a pitch have not been injured by the ball that struck them. If they had been--and getting hit by a pitch is an unavoidable risk that cannot in any way be compared to willfully running from the batters' box to the pitcher's mound--they would most likely be writhing in pain.That was clearly not the case last night. Carlos Quentin was unharmed by the ball that hit him. His actions, however, led to Zack Greinke's broken collarbone--and put two teams' worth of personnel at risk for injury.
What's needed in this instance is a Biblical approach to how justice is meted out. Quentin is responsible for Greinke's injury, which will keep the Dodger righty from pitching for awhile (at this point the estimate is 6-8 weeks).
Therefore Quentin should not be allowed to play until Greinke can.Nothing less--and nothing else--is fair. And, as others have pointed out, anything less will only lead to further ugliness between the two teams, which could result in additional injury.
Bud Selig needs to put his money-counting machine aside and grow a spine on this issue. Yeah, yeah: we know. But we can hope, can't we?
Anyone charging the mound (even with a legitimate beef) should draw an automatic 10-game suspension. But if anyone on either team is injured as a result of such an action, the instigator should sit for as long as those players cannot play. (And, in fact, that should be the case if the only player or players injured are on his own team. Teams will howl at this, but they have to reinforce the idea that charging the mound is absolutely verboten.)
It is long since past time that MLB put a stop to this shit. Needless to say, we are not holding our breath--and neither should you.
[UPDATE: Quentin received an eight-game suspension...which he is appealing. That "thhpppttt" noise you're hearing is the sound of Bud's money-counting machine, pushed up one speed setting.]
[[SON OF UPDATE: Quentin has, wisely in this case, we think, dropped his appeal and will reportedly stay away from Los Angeles while he is serving his suspension. While certain born-again neanderthal types like Thomas Boswell, who penned a ludicrous defense of Quentin's actions, will be disappointed and likely brand him as a born-again coward, we can only be thankful that some set of cooler heads prevailed and guided Quentin to what is unquestionably a prudent decision. Let us recall that a Giants fan was shot in the Dodgers' bleachers not so long ago, without anything like the specific inciting incident that is in play right now.]]
