What do you think?

how old are these kids, as in how much control does the pitcher really have?  What had the pitcher's control been like earlier?  top or bottom of the inning?

 

Either a really unfortunate accident, or a total jerk move by the other team.  I'm not sure how you'll figure it out.

Not really necessary to figure it out. Nobody ever will. I was just wondering. Something just didn't sit well with me on this one. It was top of the 10th, runner on 3rd, 2 outs. He had come in a few innings earlier. Good control. All college players.

College guys? Hard to believe it was an accident then.

Morals aside, it doesn't make sense to hit someone in a tie game with runner on third.  Too much chance of a passed ball.

 

Some kids (adults too) laugh when nervous or under pressure.

 

I wasn't there, just presenting the other side.

Can't believe the umpire didn't eject the pitcher and coach?  

Also at what point does a sport get into criminal behavior during a game? 

And why throw at the face?  Why not the legs?  

It's poor form for anyone involved in a game to be joking around while an injured player is receiving first aid. 

 

Beyond that, we can't know. The game situation was appropriate for a mound visit. Coach could have instructed the pitcher to pitch the batter inside based on locations of pitches he had hit earlier in the game--and may have also told him not to miss over the plate. Lots of pitchers are uncomfortable throwing to that side of the plate--and their lack of comfort can cause tension, which can adversely affect control.

 

When retaliatory HBPs in the pros occur, there is usually consideration of the game situation. Although it may seem like plunking this batter would be consistent with the likely game strategy of pitching around him, the likelihood of an up-and-in pitch missing the batter and eluding the catcher to permit the lead run to score on a WP in the tenth inning dictates against the strategy of intentionally hitting the batter.

 

Also, collegiate summer league teams form up, play, and disband within two months. There's just not a lot of time for animosity and ill will to build up.  Not saying it's not possible or that there aren't rivalries among summer teams. Not saying there aren't hotheads at every level. But overall, players are playing summer ball to get work in. They usually aren't looking for trouble.

 

I would need more evidence to impute malice in this situation.

 

Insensitivity to the injury? Yes.

Intent? Not substantiated.

 

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

My son accidentally hit a kid in the face last summer.  My son was 18 at that time and having control issues.  After he hit him he just sort of stood there with his hands on his knees shaking his head.  When he got the ball back from the catcher he kind of smiled and shook his head.  He was not happy or gloating.  He was pissed at himself.  The smile was more of a "well, man, I stink" sort of moment.  Hard to judge the reaction sometimes. 

Now, the coach of his team went to the other bench to check on the kid the next innings.  After the game doing the hand shake my son stayed and talked to the kid for a few seconds.  Intent can be a hard thing to judge.  

Any coach or pitcher that would throw at the head on purpose has no place in the game. 

Hope the kid is ok, that is scary. 

Hard to believe its an accident at college level...my son took a fastball to the face at 14 and that was bad enough, broke his nose sideway, blood everywhere, he was dazed, but luckily otherwise not permanebtly injured...at that age they were only in the 70s...nowadays he often sees upper 80s and low to mid 90s...that would be a different story...i would be thankful the outcome was not worse and pray it doesnt happen again...if it does the officials in that athletic conference should be taking a close look.  We all have pitches slip...but rarely 2 in a row up and in.

Leftside and 5tools22,

 

Your assumptions about college pitcher control warrant re-examination. I have seen college pitchers miss badly in the same direction two or three times in a row on many occasions.  The fact that these two in a row happened to be inside doesn't mean he was aiming at the batter. 

 

If the pitching strategy is to pitch this hitter inside, and the pitcher has been warned not to miss over the plate to this particular dangerous hitter, it is quite possible to have two pitches in a row miss badly inside.

 

It's easy to believe it's an accident, and unless there's more evidence than the OP has offered, your sense of fairness should keep you open to that possibility.

 

We don't know, and it's not right to condemn this pitcher based on the limited information available to us.

Your probably right...everyone has misses and control issues from time to time...i have seen guys hit batters on purpose, but i doubt many guys are heartless enough to try and hit a guy in the face on purpose..its unfortunate it happened...just a blessing there was not brain damage or worse.

Did the pitcher who hit Stanton in the face mean to do?

 

I also agree that we can't assume it was on purpose, but we will never know.

I am not condemning the pitcher at all.  Just the opposite actually. 

My son has struggled with control issues time to time.  

My son didn't hit a kid in the face or purpose.  I was saying judging a pitchers reaction or body language can be tricky too.  If the catcher bring the ball out to him and says "Thanks bro, I lead off the next inning. You're gonna get me drilled." and the pitcher smiles it doesn't mean he is happy he hit the guy.  To the pissed/concerned parent in the bleacher it looks like he gloating after drilling a guy. 

I have seen an 18 year old pitcher get tossed for not having control a couple of summers ago.  Hit a couple guys and threw behind a couple of guys.  Ump assumed he was doing it on purpose (or wanted him out of there before someone got hurt) and tossed him....nope, just no control. 

Situation called for high and inside? Maybe mound visit was to discuss defensing a potential bunt for hit. Coach wanted the pitches up and in, and unbuntable to see what the other team had in mind?

My son has hit players on purpose and did so in college this year; but he will tell you everytime that above the shoulders and knees or below are completely off limit.

His college roommate took a fb to the face this year that required surgery and was pretty scary as his dad and I were following on game changer 8 hours away. Brutal drive for the dad. 

 

Swamp boy, my son agrees with you. He said he thinks he was trying to pitch him in and missed. He said not in this type of game and the player didn't seem like a hot head. The only problem he had was his reaction after. Which I think is probably the same thing everyone else reacted to.  Adding to it was the fact my son was warned before he pitched the bottom of the 10th after the 0-3 kid hit a double. So some spectators thought that meant the ump thought the other pitcher had intent. I don't know, I really had a hard time believing the kid did it on purpose. It was just a really scary sight and I feel terrible for the kid. He had surgery today. Hope he recovers well.