Kansas City Writer Takes One for Team After Criticizing Wilson Betemit

Royals blogger for the Kansas City Star, Lee Judge, questioned Wilson Betemit for not getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded about a month ago. It was easy for Judge to write it when it’s not his body taking the punishment, so he decided to man up and see whether he was tough enough to accept the challenge. In this video brought to our attention by SI Hot Clicks, Judge takes one for the team:

Judge explains that he was only supposed to take an 81-mph slider but they cranked the machine up to 92 for him. As for taking an HBP, I’ve always said it depends on the situation. If it’s an important game, it’s worth wearing one. But if it’s not, and you’re talking about a valuable contributor to the team, sometimes I don’t want them risking injury. What’s more important, one baserunner (or run) at the cost of missing a player for two weeks? Not always the best idea to me.

Thanks to Bob’s Blitz for providing the video