Look For Low And Away...But Watch Out For In Your Ear

Despite being in Kansas City yesterday I was unable to hear the broadcast of the Twins/Royals matchup at the Dome due to the inadequacies of AM radios compatibility with concrete office buildings. The second inning apparently featured Royals pitcher Zack Greinke nailing Twins star Torii Hunter in the face, presumably as payback for Hunter's gift of expensive champagne to the KC club as a reward for defeating the Detroit Tigers on the last day of the year which secured the Central Division title for the Twins.

I can understand the Royals wanting to send Torii a message but locating a beanball anywhere near a players face is absolutely indefensible. So, while reading about the incident in this morning's paper I expected to come across the paragraph that detailed the Twins retaliation for Greinke's reprehensible offense. Finding no such paragraph I perused the box score only to discover that Twins starting pitcher Boof Bonser (as in "Watch your step...somebody left a Boof on the mound") not only didn't bother to hit even one Royals batter but he served up an astonishing total of seven walks in five innings.

Now, I don't pretend to know what goes through these guys heads during a game (I just design the ballparks, I don't play in them) but don't you think that if your star centerfielder had just been knocked out of the game with a dangerously placed beanball you could find it in yourself to locate one of those seven 3-ball count pitches right where it hurts? I mean, chances are that they're heading to first base anyway...you gotta make them pay for it.

I'll be watching the Twins infielders next time the Boofster is on the mound just to see if they bother diving for those tough grounders he's inevitably going to give up. Perhaps that's a message he'll actually understand.