Throwing at a batter - justified or not?  Whichever side you’re on, the unwritten rule in baseball is, if you’re a pitcher, and someone from the other team throws at or hits one of the hitters on your team, the next time you take the hill, you have to retaliate at the other team and throw at one of their hitters.

Last night, two pitchers were put in this situation, which one followed through with and the other didn’t. 

After his catcher, Jorge Posada got plunked in the bottom of the sixth inning, New York Yankees SP Randy Johnson came out in the top of the 7th and with one out, threw way inside to Cleveland Indians 1B Eduardo Perez, prompting the homeplate umpire to eject Johnson and manager Joe Torre after a warning was given to both clubs when Posada was hit.

And the other pitcher?  Well, he didn’t fare as well.

In a game between the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers, Rangers SP Vincente Padilla hit White Sox C A.J. Pierzynski twice, both times when Pierzynski led off the inning (2nd and 4th).  So, supposedly, Sean Tracey, a rookie relief pitcher was told by manager Ozzie Guillen to hit Rangers 3B Hank Blalock to start the 7th inning.  Tracey threw inside very nearly hitting Blalock twice, but Blalock eventually grounded out.

This infuriated Guillen who was seen throwing a water bottle down hard to the ground when Blalock hit the soft grounder.  Tracey was immediately taken out of the game, publicly yelled at by Guillen.  Tracey even put his collar over his head, as a show of hiding in shame.  After the game, Tracey was sent down to the minors.

Was Guillen’s blatant tirade justified?  Who makes the call when it comes to hitting a batter?  Johnson being a veteran knew that he was going to go out there and plunk someone for his catcher.  Tracey, a 25-year-old rookie from Upland, California probably got the order to hit Blalock, got nervous and didn’t do as great a job as he should have.  Do you make it obvious you’re going to hit a batter?  At least Johnson could say he was just working the inside and the ball slipped.  And being a veteran, no one would question him.

Tracey just got up to the majors last week.  Last night’s appearance was only his third ever at the major league level.  From the beginning Tracey was a red herring dangled out there to do some dirty work and suffer the repercussion of being thrown out of the game.  But, Tracey couldn’t do it for whatever reason - be it nerves, being a rookie, or even just being a nice guy.  He basically doesn’t know his team, or the majors for that matter.  Sure, he probably should have taken one for the team, but Guillen went overboard in showing up his player by publicly belittling Tracey.  And then sending him down to the minors for no other apparent reason other Tracey not hitting someone is over-the-top.

I’ll tell you this much, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tracey didn’t pitch for the White Sox ever again.  Not necessarily because Guillen wouldn’t call him back up for not plunking Blalock, but because Trecey’s psyche and spirit must be damaged for being berated in front of thousands of people and subsequently millions from TV coverage. 

If Tracey does, in fact, make it back up to the majors with the White Sox, that will tell me a lot about his character.  You don’t need to tell me about Guillen’s.

There are so many holes in it, if you pitched him inside, it would go right through him.