Something else that bugs me
 

I know, I already started a thread to complain about hitters showing up pitchers, but I've got something else that's pissing me off. That thing is hitters wearing armor to the plate and leaning into pitches. I watched Lastings Milledge pull that crap twice over the weekend. He wears a huge elbow pad to the plate and he stuck it out intentionally and got plunked once, stuck it out a second time and didn't (though he tried to sell it to the umpire that he did).

When are the league and the umps going to put an end to this crap? The league needs to limit the armor that these guys are allowed to go to the plate with and the umps have the right to deny a hit batsman first base if they determine that he either leaned into one or made no effort to get out of the way. Do your f'n jobs.

Amen. Carl Everett did that **** all the time...

Fernando Vina did it so often that some umpire finally stopped him on the way to first and made him get back in the box.

I thought that it was actually illegal to wear any unnecessary body armour at the plate. I think it may be one of those things that the umps look the other way on. Like hitters with one foot outside the back of the batter's box.

I think that's another trend much like the pants pulled down over the heel of the shoe...that Barroid is responsible for.

I remember after Bagwell kept getting plunked in the '90's he actually got special permission from the league to wear his armor.

Guys like Don Baylor and Ron Hunt earned first base with welt marks so deep you could see the stiches from the baseball.

Career Leaders for Hit By Pitch