Did he do it on purpose?

[jussi]

I'll admit baseball is not my favorite of sports but the few games I've seen the catcher has never missed this badly. Supposedly the umpire made a really bad call on previously play. What do you think fluke accident or was it payback?

video

story

EDIT: Also when the incident happened the umpire said he was ok but now that the tape is out he's developed injuries and is suing.

[bfrikken]

I've never seen this before, and I've watched my share of baseball. That was a blatant miss, and was despicable. I'd have to put the honus and blame on the coaches for this too. terrible.

[Ed62]

It's hard to know what actually happened. It sure looked like it was a deliberate thing, but who knows? You'd just have to hope it wasn't intentional.

Ed

[Daryl]

I have seen this before. The picher threw high and the catcher deliberately ducked. They were sore at a previous call. One of the boys lost a scholorship because of this. This is a pretty common tactic among the amateurs. The pros police it pretty heavily with fines and suspension.

[Russianwolf]

Watch the slow mo. It looks like first contact is with the batters helmet.

[Uncle Cracker]

It does happen. Happened to me in a high school tournament game. I "no-called" (disallowed) a hit-by-pitch, because the batter stepped into the strike zone intentionally to be hit. When the hitting team took the field, the pitcher and catcher pulled this stunt on the very first pitch. I threw out the pitcher, the catcher, and the manager.

[gsmittle]

It does happen. Happened to me in a high school tournament game. I "no-called" (disallowed) a hit-by-pitch, because the batter stepped into the strike zone intentionally to be hit. When the hitting team took the field, the pitcher and catcher pulled this stunt on the very first pitch. I threw out the pitcher, the catcher, and the manager.

Good for you! I always taught my players NOBODY messes with the ump. Good call on the HBP, too.

g.

[jussi]

It does happen. Happened to me in a high school tournament game. I "no-called" (disallowed) a hit-by-pitch, because the batter stepped into the strike zone intentionally to be hit. When the hitting team took the field, the pitcher and catcher pulled this stunt on the very first pitch. I threw out the pitcher, the catcher, and the manager.

Were you seriously hurt? How did you know the manager was complicit?

[jussi]

Watch the slow mo. It looks like first contact is with the batters helmet.

I think you maybe right but I don't think it changes what the picther and cather were trying to do. The batter just got in the way.

[Ed62]

I didn't think it was easy to tell if the ball hit his helmet. There was no obvious deflection. But I doubt that it did because he probably would have been headed to first base, if that were the case.

Ed

[Russianwolf]

I didn't think it was easy to tell if the ball hit his helmet. There was no obvious deflection. But I doubt that it did because he probably would have been headed to first base, if that were the case.

Ed

????? Did you look at that video????

I don't think you can get a more obvious diflection.


The ball leaves his hand going slightly down the screen (maybe 8:45) and at exactly the point where the batters helmet is, it suddenly takes a sharp downward turn (maybe 7:45), hits the ump goes to about 6:15 and hits the catcher.

Purpose or not, I don't know, but you couldn't have planned a better triple play.

[Uncle Cracker]

Were you seriously hurt? How did you know the manager was complicit?

No, I wasn't, but certainly could have been. Whether or not I was hurt was irrelevant. The manager is always responsible for the comportment of his team on the field. There is no place in sport for this sort of wanton conduct towards an official.

[gsmittle]

No, I wasn't, but certainly could have been. Whether or not I was hurt was irrelevant. The manager is always responsible for the comportment of his team on the field. There is no place in sport for this sort of wanton conduct towards an official.

I'm with UC on this one. The manager is always responsible. One of my guys dropped his shoulder and nailed the opposing team's catcher (in this league sliding was OK, contact without the slide was not). He got benched and I got a warning, even though I tried to stop him at 3rd base. My responsibility, no matter what.

g.

[Ed62]

????? Did you look at that video????

Yeah, but not in full screen mode. I just tried it again, in full screen this time. Sorry, but I still can't tell for sure. It looks like what you're seeing might be the natural drop of the ball. But like I said, I'm not sure (aging eyes ).

Ed

[bfrikken]

I agree with Ed, I think it was the natural path of the ball. That batter was too composed to show the effect of getting hit by the pitch. Also there was no mention of a beaning in the news story.