Up and in should be legal. Sure it would suck to hit someone on the noggen, but a pitcher’s job is to make the batter uncomfortable, regardless of whether or not the other team has hit a team mate. Gotta make those batters hit the dirt sometimes. The umps and the league are taking more and more power away from the pitcher and giving it to the sluggers. Pitchers should be able to scare batters and not worry about suspensions. How many home runs would those old guys, from the 20s through the 80s, gotten if the pitchers couldn’t throw up and in? couldn’t knock guys down? couldn’t hit guys?

i don’t think Kason Gabbard was suspended. I don’t think the pitch was that close either. He stayed in the game, but left later with bruises.

Sexson was suspended 6 games and had it reduced to 5, via appeal…

We here are all much more focused on the Yanks. And while they might have researchers, their job as stated above isn’t to be accurate analysts, it’s to provoke in the interest of ratings. So it’s a fools errand to expect detailed analysis there. Our responses are exactly what they are charged to elicit.

On Hawkins – can’t go at the head.

We need to recognize that we often see with our hearts as well as our eyes – that which raises our ire is what we recall. Jeter gets hit on the hand – by the imminently wild D. Cabrera – and we see intent where likely none existed.

Also on Hawkins. He’s not pitching to a key role at present, but if you look at his game logs, his numbers would be very good were it not for 3 bad short outings totaling 1.1 innings. Otherwise he’s allowed 2 ER in 19.2 IP over 14 appearances. I hope we’ll see more of the latter and he can help fill.

While we’re all high on our coming prospects, and apparently many here are more knowledgeable over Ohlendorf’s true potential than those in the Yanks’ org (by the way, he wasn’t a 1 inning set up guy when relieving in Scranton either – 7 of 12 apps were 2+ IP), these guys are still unproven commodities. So was Joba. But we can’t expect that performance level. Still, Joba in the rotation is the right move.

I agree BUT they have to talk about all sports not just baseball. I don’t mind that they aren’t super knowledgable about baseball but their attitude is what really bothers me. They think that they are right and everyone else is wrong and they don’t accept any new ideas.

Joba got suspended last year and was told “that’s not how we pitch in the majors”. Yet we see it happening where Yankee batters get pitches going toward their heads and from pitchers a lot more veteran than a rookie, and nothing happens, nothing gets said.

That is a double standard. That is what is wrong.