MLB

Baseball has its unwritten rules about pitchers hitting batters with pitches, how the batter should respond and if the offended team then needs to hit one of its opponents’ batters.

It’s stupid and childish, but it isn’t going away. How do you rewrite unwritten rules that form some a code of honor? Or dishonor?

On Monday night, San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland, apparently still angry that Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals homered him off twice in the playoffs three years ago and enjoyed it a bit too thoroughly, drilled Harper in the hip in the eighth inning. Both benches cleared, Harper went after Strickland.

Major League Baseball stepped in on Tuesday and suspended Harper for four games, Strickland for six. Let me point out here that Harper is an everyday player and Strickland a relief pitcher. So while the six games indicate MLB hung more of the blame on Strickland, he might miss four innings while Harper, the Nats’ best player, will lose 16-20 plate appearances.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker basically talked right through the unwritten rules, noting that Giants manager Bruce Bochy “didn’t give the command and order” to hit Harper. Nor did catcher Buster Posey leave the plate when Harper charged the mound, showing he certainly wasn’t in on any grand plan. And that left Baker with no reason to order his pitcher on Tuesday night to hit a Giants batter.

As USA Today put it: Bochy acknowledged baseball code typically calls for a team whose star has been hit intentionally to respond in kind. “This is why we don’t have our pitchers throw at guys or start things, because that’s what the other team would do too,’’ Bochy said. “So this was a personal thing.”

Good. Glad the personal agenda has a place in the game.

Stupid enough for ya? Let’s add that Giants outfielder Michael Morse collided with a teammate during the fray, suffered a concussion and went on the seven-day disabled list.

Now we’ll top it. Strickland and Harper appealed their suspensions. Both were eligible to play Tuesday night and are eligible until their hearings.

That’s a written rule.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman