Playing the Right Way?

Watching the Sunday night game between the Brewers and Cardinals there was an interesting play in the middle of the game where the St. Louis pitcher bounced a ball in the dirt that subsequently hit Prince Fielder in the leg. What was interesting was his reaction: he pretended the ball didn't hit him. He got back in the box and waited for the next pitch. It didn't work, the umpire saw him get hit. Joe Morgan enjoyed the situation and commented that FIelder wanted to hit.

It was a good moment to be a baseball fan. The reason it's fun to cheer for the players, not the jerseys they wear.

On Tuesday night the White Sox were in Toronto. A.J. Pierznski was at the plate. Romero was on the mound and he bounced a pitch in the dirt. This time it avoided the hitter and bounced to the backstop. Not according to A.J. however, who took the opportunity to hop around on one leg and do what he could to convince the ump he had been hit. It worked, and he was awarded his free pass to first.

The situations were different. The Sox were behind 4-0 and were being no hit. The Brewers were up 7-1. Rios folowed aj to the plate and ended the no hitter with a 2 run homer slicing the lead in half. Although they went on to lose by that score. The Cardinals actually managed to come back in their game to tied it at 7-7 in the ninth, before tlosing in extras.

It could be said that A.J. did everyhting he could to get on base, to help his team score and he did, but for me it wasn't a great baseball moment. It made me think about cheering for the jersey instead of the player - even if you're a Sox fan, how could you like a cheater?

Or maybe it could be said that Feilder was acting selfishly, placing his desire to hit above what was in the best interst of the team.It didn't feel that way at the time, but in retrospect it could be argued. I guess thats what makes baseball such a great game. Everything is relevant. Everything you do matters. Thats the appeal of the players that "play the game the right way" but in this case I'm not sure which way that is.