We all know it goes on. It is the unwritten rule of the baseball that no pitcher will directly acknowledge — everyone except for Cole Hamels that is. Hamels admitted last season that he intentionally hit Bryce Harper just a handful of games into his first major league season for basically being cocky and not yet earning his stripes.

This goes on and any player who admits to it in the media will be punished, as was Hamels who was suspended for 5 games thereafter. Hamels message was that rookies who get special treatment need to be put in their place. Veterans don’t like rookies coming up quickly and getting too much attention, whether you have done something directly to them or not. That is exactly what happened on Tuesday night to Yasiel Puig. The difference, however, was that Hamels plunked Harper in the back where a player is unlikely to be seriously injured, but on Tuesday evening, Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Ian Kennedy could have ended Puig’s career before it ever started by hitting him in the face.

Had Ian Kennedy’s pitch been even a fraction of an inch more inside, Yasiel Puig could have been seriously injured or even killed. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Yasiel Puig is undoubtedly a sensation. According to the LA Times, Puig merchandise is flying off the shelves at a pace faster than anyone in Dodger history, including the Mannywood or Fernando-mania era. He has been the intense focus of reporting in the media with comparisons to the all-time greats whether right or wrong. This doesn’t go unnoticed amongst other players. There is jealousy and an unwritten code that rookies need to behave in a certain way until they are established. Recently in the Atlanta series, Paul Maholm lashed back at a reporter who asked about Puig telling him not to put him in the Hall of Fame yet.

Puig was sent that same message last night by Ian Kennedy. Kennedy admitted that he was pitching inside on purpose and it just “got away.” In all seriousness, getting hit in the butt or in the back is “letting a pitch get away,” not at face level which can end a career or worse. These are professional pitchers with pinpoint control. The difference between in location is meaningful and can have horrible repercussions.

In a very transparent response, Zack Greinke hit Miguel Montero squarely in the back. This was a message directly to Montero who had to have called the pitch to Puig. Although this may seem trivial to the casual observer, this fact is very important – Greinke hit him in the back, not at face or shoulder level.

Greinke gets up to be bat in the 7th. With his first pitch Kennedy serves up a very high fast ball hitting Greinke on the front shoulder. Kennedy is immediately tossed. He doesn’t argue and casually walks off the field before the melee begins.

While it is arguable that Kennedy’s pitch that hit Puig in the nose may have been accidental, there is absolutely zero doubt that this pitch was intended to hit Zack Greinke in the head.
(Video capture courtesy of KCAL 9 Sports)

I know there will be some who say that both were at fault and that the Dodgers should not have responded (this part of baseball is a bit crude), but the difference between a belt or numbers-high fastball versus a shoulder or face-level bean ball is huge. What happened last night was not Kennedy letting one “get away.” Kennedy was dangerously putting a rookie in his place with a bean ball. Then he repeats it again with an equally dangerous pitch to Greinke. The Dodgers had a right to be very upset.