When is it ok to bean a baseball player?

Rick Porcello is a 20 year old rookie pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. On Tuesday his teammates put him in a very bad situation. On Monday a player from each team was hit by pitchers from the opposing side. So there was a little bad blood between these two teams heading in.

The first to be hit in the second contest was Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. How intentional it was is up to debate since Cabrera was hit on the hands while leaning over the plate looking at a pitch. When the Rookie Porcello returned to the mound he then went out of his way to throw at the head of Red Sox cathcher Victor Martinez. Porcello missed Martinez and later in the inning drilled Kevin Youkilis in the back.

There are two things young Porcello must learn. While he was right in coming to the defense of his team, he has to get that done the first time around. That is the code of baseball and he should do it by plunking the guy in the back. Throwing at a guys head is dangerous, and while there is a need to plunk a guy, plunking him in the back is always the way to go.