I heard an interview with Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson (former baseball greats) on NPR’s Fresh Air this weekend. They spent a lot of time talking about pitching inside and “brushing back” hitters. Reggie Jackson, a hitter, conceded that these were “part of the game.”
There is a mundane sense in which this is true, namely that not even the best pitcher has flawless control and sometimes batters get hit. But Reggie was even talking about intentional beanballs. In what sense is this part of the game?
The penalty for throwing inside is that, if you hit the batter, he gets a free base. (And your teammate might get beaned at the next opportunity.) The problem is that this penalty trigger is partly controlled by the opposition. Other things equal it gives the batter an incentive to stand a bit closer to the plate. In order to discourage this, the pitcher must establish a reputation for throwing inside when a batter crowds the plate. In that sense, intentionally throwing at the hitter is unavoidable strategy, part of the game.
So, one way to short-circuit this effect is to change the condition for giving a free base to something that is exogenous, i.e. independent of any choice made by the batter. For example, the batter gets a free base any time the ball sails more than some fixed distance inside of the plate, whether or not it actually hits the batter. Modern technology could certainly detect this with minimal error.
Cheap Talk 
7 comments
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October 19, 2009 at 7:15 am
billpetti
But your suggestion would adversely impact the ‘legitimate’ practice of pitching inside.
If batters crowd the plate they gain greater plate coverage, making it increasing difficult for a pitcher to locate pitches that are difficult for the batter to hit and also allow a batter to extend their arms, thereby hitting the ball with greater power. That is, unless, batters have a reason to step back off the plate–the only way to do this is to pitch inside. Not necessarily bean anyone crowding the plate, but to demonstrate that as a pitcher you are willing to locate your pitches inside, forcing a batter to move off the plate to account for those pitches. Sometimes batters will get hit–not always intentionally.
Pitchers are already deterred by the penalty of awarding a batter 1st base–and, in some cases, either being thrown out of the game or being warned so that even an inadvertent pitch lands them in the clubhouse.
By creating an arbitrary location that counts as an ‘illegal’ pitch you further deter pitchers from throwing inside. Many pitchers can be wild without having the intent to bean. Simply being wild with one pitch should award a batter first base without the requisite four?
Is there a particular reason why you are trying to further advantage the offense?
October 20, 2009 at 10:11 am
jeff
Decide how far you want the batter to stand from the plate. Call it x. The new rule should be that if the pitcher throws farther than x from the plate (inside) the batter gets a free base, whether or not he is hit. And if the batter is hit standing closer than x from the plate, he does not get a free base.
October 19, 2009 at 8:10 am
David Pinto
There’s no reason to throw at the head. A pitch in on the hands is just as effective.
October 19, 2009 at 8:15 am
billpetti
David: Agreed, but Jeff’s suggestion included the broad notion of pitching inside, not just eliminating throwing at a batter’s head.
October 19, 2009 at 8:31 am
Matt
Don’t forget the batter’s obvious incentive not to get hit all the time. It hurts! Unless you wear a suit of armor on your elbow like jason kendall or some of the other guys do.
October 29, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Mike
These kind of things have been going on for ywars, its part of the phycological warfare so to speak…. makes the game fun to watch also.
January 5, 2010 at 11:48 pm
mac
Baseball over the years has changed so many rules to benfit hitters. Durin Cy Young’s days, the mound was close to 50 feet away from the plate, tampering with the ball was as big a part of pitching as a hitter putting pine-tar on their bat for better grip while hitting. Baseball has already done enough to give the advantage to the hitter, and that is why we don’t see any 20 game winning pitchers anymore during a season and it is even possible that we may not see another pitcher reach 300 wins in a career. By not allowing a pitcher to come “up and in” you eliminate their edge. Their edge is knowing where they want to throw the ball. Well if the batter knows that a pitcher cannot brush them back without giving the batter an automatic free base, hitters will sit dead red. A major way that pitchers keep hitters like A-Rod at bay, is by putting fear in them. Whether they admit it or not, hitters do have a fear/respect for being plunked (even with the knights armour they wear on their elbows and shins). Baseball is a great game, and I love the sport and I’m sure many fans could agree that the game needs some tension of a bean-ball, or purpose pitches, it is what makes it a competition and plays into the whole psychology of baseball and what makes it the “thinking man’s game”.