I think you might want to read his question again.
You know what? I misunderstood the question. I’m sure someone somewhere has been directly hurt by someone flipping or tossing a bat, but I can’t think of any examples right now.
I cannot understand the controversy. Kids are taught as early as T-ball and Coach-Pitch to let go of the bat before leaving the batter’s box. If the batter wants to delay their trip to first by extending their arm, who cares?
The ball has been hit, and it is in play. It is either a home run or walk-off hit, or the batter does not have the luxury of delay.
If the bat-flip is considered a form of disrespect, why is it ok for the catcher to quickly throw the strike-out ball to third, and they whip it around the infield (when there is no runner on base). Isn’t this a form of disrespect to the hitter?
I was taught that the reason for the tosses around the infield after a strikeout was to keep the infielders loose. They’ve been standing around for at least one hitter, so whipping the ball around gets you ready for the next hitter. Nothing celebratory about it.
Lets keep it simple: you don’t deliberately try to further embarrass a guy who can, if they choose, to throw a 100 mph hardball at your head.
Let’s keep it even simpler. If you can’t be trusted not to try to hurt people, you belong in jail, not a baseball stadium.
Only in baseball. If it’s the NFL, there’s always Dallas.
And you would prove to the jury the pitcher deliberately threw the ball at the batter standing inches from the plate . . . . how?:dubious:
If you think baseball is bad, if my understanding is correct in cricket you can throw directly at the batter, and its up to the batsman to protect himself.
That’s something I don’t get about cricket. I’ve seen clips of bowlers throwing short so the ball bounces right up in the batsman’s face. You can’t really hit the wicket that way so I don’t know the reason. It’s a good thing they have face protection, though.
If you grew up playing baseball, learning to hold onto the bat is impossible at first. I played in high school and every time I hit the ball the bat would immediately disappear from my hands (in cricket you hold onto the bat when you run.) Took ages and a lot of getting laughed at to stop.
Prepare to watch the best baseball player in the universe. Is he a batter? Is he a samurai? Is he a backup dancer for Beyonce?
The answer, of course, is yes.