Three Reasons Phillies' Cole Hamels Should Have Received More Than A Five-Game Suspension
By: Pat Caputo
Three reasons Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels should have received more than a five-game suspension from Major League Baseball for deliberately hitting Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch Sunday:
1. Hamels won't really miss a start. It doesn't hurt his team at all, just Hamels a bit in the pocket book.
2. Hamels wasn't protecting a teammate. It was totally instigating an incident. The Nationals responded later by hitting Hamels with a pitch.
3. You can injure somebody severely with a pitched baseball, perhaps even kill them. Pitching inside is part of the game. It's one thing, deliberately hitting somebody, and then almost bragging about it, another.