Last night on Sunday Night Baseball, two NL East teams faced off. The Phillies had veteran pitcher Cole Hamels on the mound to face the new phenom Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals. In the first inning, Harper came up to bat with two outs he was struck on the back with a pitch. After the game in which the Phillies knocked around the Nationals with a score of 9-3, Hamels admitted that hit was in fact intentional.
“That’s something I grew up watching, that’s kind of what happened. So I’m just trying to continue the old baseball because I think some people are kind of getting away from it. I remember when I was a rookie the strike zone was really, really small and you didn’t say anything because that’s the way baseball is,” Hamels said. So it is just okay to go out and intentionally hit players? I can understand that the game used to be much more physical and people have to earn respect, but is taking out their best player really necessary?
In my opinion, I think it is quite childish and makes it look as though Hamels just did not want to face the 19-year-old. Just because you had to earn your stripes does not give you the right to hit someone who is having a sensational beginning to their career. Harper reacted like a class act and just walked down to first base.
