That being said, it's no bold statement to say that baseball has a problem: its popularity is decreasing and its demographic age is increasing. Most think that the length of games and amount of downtime between pitches is causing the sport to suffer. I agree, but there is an underlying problem in the sport that isn't discussed much in the mainstream sports news cycle.
The problem that I'm talking about is: intentionally throwing at a batter. Whether it be for looking at a home run too long or retaliation for an action earlier in a game or even in the series beforehand, a pitcher intentionally beaning a batter is one of the most disgusting acts in all of sports.
Baseball is a sport ruled by underlying unwritten rules and a constant talk of "playing the game the right way". In baseball it's considered okay for a pitcher to hurl a baseball 90mph at a batter's body because he celebrated his home run too much. In any other sport this would be absolutely outlawed, in football if a defensive tackle sacks the quarterback and celebrates his sack it's not considered okay for an offensive lineman to attack the DT for celebrating. Yet in baseball a flip of the bat or admiring your own home run means you deserve to get hit with a ball flying at 90mph. It's savage, vile and needs to be taken out of the sport.
Beaning someone intentionally should be considered a criminal act, think about it, if a pitcher hits a batter in the face and forces the batter to need surgery to repair the damage, shouldn't the pitcher be held responsible? If you were on the street and you gloated about something to someone and they decided to throw a baseball 90mph directly at you, that would be assault with a weapon but in the confines of a ballpark it's normal and in most cases "justified"
Taking intentional beanings out of the sport is nearly impossible because it's nearly impossible to prove intent. But if A-Rod hits a home run in the 2nd inning and at his next at bat in the 5th inning takes a baseball to the back, it can be assumed that was intentional.
Things like this are not "playing the game the right way" and just because this has been an unwritten rule for some time now doesn't mean that it's okay. Beanballs are outrageous and makes those who partake in it look like animals. Baseball has always been a sport predicated around class and the "right way" and beanings are destroying the fabric of the sport and it needs to be dealt with.
