Cole Hamels and the Code

Cole Hamels has been suspended for five games for deliberately hitting a rookie batter.  He wanted to “welcome him to the big leagues,” and thought this was an “old school” way of doing it.  The idea that by playing dirty, breaking the rules, and substituting pseudo-macho behavior – which is all playing dirty is – for true determination, ability and class is definitely an old idea whose time should be past.  Bean balls in baseball, fights in hockey, bounties in football, and cheap fouls in other sports are thought to be ways to “intimidate” the opposition.  The truth is it rarely, if ever, works (think of how many times have you seen a baseball player, floored by a pitch, get up off the ground and hit the next pitch for a hit.).  We play by the rules because in doing so we honor the game, and ourselves.  If Hamels had wanted to impress the rookie, the best way would have been to strike him out.