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40% of national poll respondents think hitting a batter intentionally is okay, and that’s not okay

Seriously what is wrong with people

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MLB: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in-fans from each team. If you’d like to be included in the survey of Mariners fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.

While the Mariners don’t usually find themselves in brawls, there have been some heated moments over the first full month of the season. This week’s national question addresses the issue: is it ever okay for a pitcher to intentionally hit/throw behind/throw at a batter? (We’re using “bean” here as “strike anywhere on the body,” not “throw at the head of,” which is clearly barbarism.)

Look, I don’t know who these 40% yes-es are, but this is one thing where I see it as a completely black-and-white issue. In no case is it ever okay to commit assault for revenge or pride or any other reasons. Doing that is messing with someone’s livelihood, career, and health, and it’s absolutely unacceptable in any case. Or as John put it:

You don’t want batters to show you up, make better pitches. Also, though, pitchers should create their own version of a batflip when they accomplish something. Maybe like Justus does:

I’m curious about what our community, specifically, thinks about this:

Poll

Is it ever acceptable for a pitcher to intentionally throw at any part of a batter?

This poll is closed

  • 51%
    Yes
    (316 votes)
  • 48%
    No
    (296 votes)
612 votes total Vote Now

Checking in on our questions regarding the direction of the team/managerial approval, the numbers didn’t fall off as precipitously as I anticipated given the back-to-back sweeps, although nearly sweeping the Angels might have helped soften the blow.

Managerial approval was back up to 89%, as well.

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