Reply to "Is it going too far?"

I believe there are appropriate situations to employ the butcher boy play. And all players, particulary third basemen, must be taught that you don't go flying all the way down the line toward the batter just because he squares... just like teams must be extremely careful to have a sign/counter sign so that everyone knows a suicide squeeze play is on. As a parent, I hate both plays at younger levels.  But both have their place and are legal.

But I've also seen what BFS is describing, basically teams using the butcher boy repeatedly and indiscriminantly as a way to gain an advantage.  As a pitcher, NOT as a Coach,I believe that it is reasonable to stop this with a message pitch. I know many will disagree with me on this, but it's my honest opnion.  There's a proper way to play the game, and almost everyone knows what it is by HS.  Teams that use the butcher boy indescriminantly, spike MIFs, ram catchers uneccesarily, etc... run the risk of a message pitch.  Yes, there's danger in a pitcher doing this, but there is danger in not doing it too.  A good umpire can keep things from getting to this point by warnings and tossing as necessary. I guess my point is this... by HS ball, players need to be accountable for their actions.  If a player is going to play dirty, he is putting others at risk.  The game has a way of policing itself.

Last thing related, if a Coach tells a pitcher to hit a kid... that's different, IMO. For one, the Coach is absolutely putting himself and his school in serious liability by engaging in this.  But just in pure baseball terms, that coach is out of line to do this.  Let the players playing the game police the game... I truly believe that this is the best and safest scenario.  As a Coach once told me a long time ago, the only guaranteed 100% safe way to play is NOT to play.  The next best thing is to play the game smart and play it right.