Back foot not sure where your from but it sounds like the players you are speaking about should not play the game if they are in danger. If a 3rd baseman cant understand the play he should not be playing baseball. ( I am assuming we are talking HS). Hitting a batter in the head should never happen on purpose. However in football they have plenty of time to send a message, in basketball it's a hard foul. In baseball it's a ball in the Near the ribs. Most of the time the batter gets out of the way, if the don't it hurts for a minute. again at the HS level a well placed ball can send a message, get a batter to move his feet. my son has thrown inside on purpose many times. Never at a head and almost never with the intent of actually hitting the player just making him think.