Cole Hamels and the code of baseball

On Sunday Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels hit the Nationals prize rookie Bryce Harper in the latter's first at bat.It looked intentional and after the game Hamels admitted it was a "purpose pitch".
Hamels said his pitch was in lockstep with the old school of baseball that was played when he grew up.
This surprised and disappointed me, even though I am a life-long Phillies fan, because the pitch was not a result of Harper "showing up" Hamels, showboating, or in retaliation for a prior hard take-out slide by a Nationals player.I know Bob Gibson often greeted new players to the league the same way, but is what Hamels did really a legitimate old school style of play? Or does it go beyond the customs of the unwritten code of baseball?
In my novel A Pitch for Justice, I imagine such a dire consequence of baseball's code which leads to a criminal investigation and prosecution.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Pitch-for-Jus...
I hope there is no further retaliation by the Nats or the Phillies; I don't want my novel to become reality.
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Published on May 08, 2012 10:56 Tags: baseball, cole-hamels, legal-thrillers, phillies
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message 1: by [deleted user] (new)


message 2: by [deleted user] (last edited Jun 21, 2012 03:53PM) (new)

Note: Johnny Peralta got an 8 game suspension for using pine tar inside his glove while Cole got a 5 game suspension for deliberating hitting Harper.
That seems to tell me that hitting a batter is less serious an offense than using a substance which does not really effect the trajectory of the ball.


message 3: by [deleted user] (new)

Thanks, this is one book that I think would make the transition to film or tv without losing anything in translation or having to change anything to make it more appealing to the audience. It truly felt like real life unfolding on the pages with all of the ups and downs you have to go through on everyone's part, not just that of the main character. If forces everyone in the book as well as the reader to really examine your beliefs in sports either seprate from societal rules as a self governed entity, or as an integrated sub class that is subject to the "any man" doctrine and therefore must conform to the safe rules we live by day to day. I just can't tell you how good I thought this was. Greg

This is from a reviewer who gave the book A Pitch For Justice 5 stars. I gave him my card on a plane and he later wrote a review which sums up what I was trying to accomplish


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