Major League Baseball Fails to Take On-Field Violence Seriously

An Associated Press article referencing two 11 June bench-clearing brawls between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks renders editorial opinion disguised as news, that Major League Baseball "came down hard" on the offenders.  It did not come down hard.

The most stringent penalty dispensed for actions undertaken within this disgraceful night was a ten-day suspension to Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy for repeatedly throwing at an opponent's head.  I suppose Kennedy would only have suffered serious sanction had the opponent not been able to get out of the way of the pitches and a brain injury had ensued. A mere attempt to injure is apparently of little consequence to the League.  Particularly stunning is the fact that Dodgers pitcher Zach Grienke is one of those that was involved and has been suspended, this just after he has returned to the team following a period on the disabled list for a broken collar bone suffered pursuant to another brawl in which he was at the center, that one taking place on 11 April with arch-rival, the San Francisco Giants.

Those who are believed to have ordered the thuggery, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks managers, will miss only one game for their actions.

Is baseball becoming a game of thugs, one with a focus of violence, like football and hockey?  That could be the case if the sport does not begin to take seriously the bench-clearing brawls which bring it disgrace and which send the wrong message to the impressionable children that look up to their short-tempered, rage-filled idols.  If any of them had the fear of losing one or two month's income for initiating or jumping into the fray, it is certain that there would be restraint.

The juvenile mentality to hit the opponent and to retaliate against those that do is one that is shamefully endorsed by many game commentators, particularly those that are former professional baseball players.

I appreciate the effort the sport is devoting to the eradication of performance-enhancing cheaters.  It should remove its blind spot from the issue of violence in the game, which threatens its existence.