JH they were not the ones on MLB network or ones I have talked to. I geuss guys like Gibson, Koufax, Seaver. Marachial, Johnson,Newcombe, Maglie, Clemens, Jenkins, Richards were not right? ALL of them BACKED guys off and occasionally threw at them. I suppose you would not have voted for any of them for the hall of fame or all star teams. No one said to throw at his head. Ribs and backside are fair game in this instance.Thats why Harold Reynolds was so emphatic that he never should have seen a pitch after that swing. Sorry but we differ greatly on this subject.
Throwing the ball off the plate inside as a strategic location and intentionally hitting a batter are two completely different animals. I don't think any pitcher in their right mind would try to pitch without pitching inside. But to be quite honest, I find the practice of intentionally hitting batters to be absolutely stupid. The batter's goal is to get on base and the pitcher purposely facilitated that for him. What? How is that "helping your team"? I have never once thought about intentionally hitting a player and I would never condone it at any level. The pitcher's goal is to get batters out, not let them get on base. Hitting a batter intentionally may "fire up" the team...but it hurts the team in potential run prevention (which, of course, ties into wins and losses). I don't know about you, but I'd rather have one less baserunner than an egotistical war that takes away from the more important facets of the game.
So, if you'd like to interpret my sentiment as me saying that all of the above pitchers you mentioned were not right, then that's fine with me. Although I have never had the pleasure of meeting any of these pitchers personally, I certainly would not hesitate to voice this opinion directly to them if I had the opportunity.
I have absolutely no idea what the practice of intentionally hitting a batter has to do with a hypothetical vote based on performance.
I strongly stand by my opinion. Gomez was an instigating punk, and McCann was classless and immature. There is no place in the game for what either player did.