Josh Donaldson: MLB beanball culture puts hitters in danger

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson felt that he was thrown at twice by the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. After the Twins received no punishment, Donaldson ripped into MLB’s policies and the culture of the game that makes beanballs acceptable.

Donaldson’s issues started Saturday, when the Minnesota dugout chirped at him for not running out a ground ball. After homering in his first at bat on Sunday, he stared into their dugout after crossing home plate. In the sixth inning, Twins pitcher Phil Hughes – known for having very good command – came inside twice, even throwing behind Donaldson’s back on the second pitch. Donaldson and his manager, John Gibbons, were aghast that Hughes wasn’t ejected for the apparent intentional pitches, and only Gibbons was tossed from the game for arguing.

“Major League Baseball has to do something about this,” Donaldson said Sunday, via Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling. “They say they’re trying to protect players. They make a rule that says you can’t slide hard into second base. They make a rule to protect the catchers on slides into home. But when you throw a ball at somebody, nothing’s done about it. My manager comes out to ask what’s going on and he gets ejected for it. That’s what happens.

“I just don’t get the point. I don’t get what baseball’s trying to prove. If I’m a young kid watching these games, why would I want to play baseball? Why? If I do something well or if somebody doesn’t like something that I do, it’s, ‘Oh, well, I’m gonna throw at you now.’ It doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Donaldson said he didn’t blame Hughes, who he felt was likely acting under instructions from the team. He blamed the culture of the game, the sport’s so-called “unwritten rules,” for making it acceptable to throw at hitters in retaliation for anything they do. Donaldson fears that it could endanger his career

“It doesn’t take much in order to break these bones in your face,” Donaldson said. “And Phil Hughes didn’t throw the ball at my face. But it only takes an eighth of an inch off your release point in order for the ball to go somewhere else.”

Donaldson’s ultimate point was that defenseless hitters are being targeted for perceived slights by pitchers and teams, and that’s not right.

“My problem is with how in baseball you have to feel like you’re a tough guy by throwing a pitch at somebody who’s defenceless,” Donaldson concluded. “I don’t have a chance. I’m not going to throw my bat at the pitcher. And in the American League, the pitcher doesn’t have to hit.

“The fact of the matter is, I’m not going to throw a projectile at the pitcher. I’m not going to throw a projectile at anybody. I go out there and I play the game. If you don’t like something I do, I don’t care. You’re not supposed to like me as an opponent.”

Donaldson has a point. Unless there is already a warning in place, pitchers pretty much never get ejected or suspended for throwing at hitters, as it’s difficult to judge intent and they can simply say the ball slipped and they missed their spot. Baseball usually doesn’t punish them for that. The intent behind Hughes’s pitches seemed pretty obvious. You only have to look back at last week, when this fight was started by Matt Bush plunking Jose Bautista, which many would argue was intentional. Bush wasn’t ejected at the time and faced only a fine, but Toronto’s Jesse Chavez was suspended for retaliating because warnings had already been issued when Chavez threw at Prince Fielder. There should be no gray area. If a pitcher throws at a hitter and the intent seems clear, he should be tossed, end of story.