Players getting hit by pitches might be a more common thing talked about in baseball this season than ever before.

Why, you ask?

After doing what I felt was way too much research on the subject, I found that the first official record of players getting hit by pitches dates back to 1887 when a pitcher by the name of Gus Weyhing was found to have hit 277 batters during his 14-year MLB career. A somewhat more modern-era record is 205, set by inaugural Hall of Famer Walter Johnson during his remarkable 21-year MLB career from 1907 to 1927.

But why throw a ball 80 mph (or faster) at someone up to bat? A lot of it has to do with players acting rude or being unsportsmanlike.

BINGO! – Unsportsmanlike? Does that sound familiar (cough cough Astros)?

This season you may hear sports reporters or read articles that refer to pitchers throwing ‘chin music.’ This is a saying that describes a pitch that is chin level being thrown at the batsmen. As much as we do not like the Astros and how they cheated, I personally do not wish any of the players to get a ‘beanball’ or a ball thrown directly to the head. This can be very hazardous and could end someone’s career altogether as a result. As much as we hate them and what they did, no one should have a career-ending injury that is avoidable. Throwing a good hardball at the numbers is good enough for me.

Late last month, MLB sent out a memo to warn teams not to throw at the Astros: “We have been working on for some time a memorandum about being hit by pitches, intentionally throwing at batters. It’s really dangerous, really a dangerous undertaking, and completely independent of the Astros investigation we will be issuing at the beginning of this week a memorandum on hit-by-pitches which will increase the ramifications of that type of behavior,” Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN.

Keep in mind no Astros players had any huge life-changing discipline (i.e., suspension or fine) as a result of their cheating. In fact, Astros players were granted immunity by the commissioner to allow a safer way for them to come forward with facts about the cheating scandal. Just writing this makes me want to throw a ball at someone.

I support our Boys in Blue with all of my heart. If one of our pitchers had the opportunity to throw at one of the cheating Astros and hit them, I would support their decision. Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling recently said: “It would certainly be on my mind,” when asked if he would consider throwing at an Astros hitter if he were to face them this coming season. Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood brought to light that: “If it were a different time, Astros hitters might get pegged every inning.”

It will be up to individual umpires to make the call on whether or not pitches that hit opposing batters – especially Astros batters – were intentional or not. Most umpires are of the old school mentality of “they got what they deserved,” but we shall see what happens this coming season.

Let’s Go Dodgers!