In most sports, when things get tense, a quick shot to another athlete can shut that down pretty quick, but fighting in baseball is childish and best saved for other, more contact-oriented sports.
The fight between Carlos Gomez and Travis Snider did not need to happen and, while it’s undoubtedly exciting to see the benches clear, it did not really serve a purpose in the game.
Unlike hockey, where fighting is deeply ingrained in sportsmanship and the game itself, watching professional baseball players swing at each other while the umpires try to break it up is like watching kids throwing a tantrum after someone else got the toy they wanted.
Fighting has no place in current baseball as far as I’m concerned. Nobody is trying to pretend that baseball is a contact sport, and there is no reason these players to be throwing punches.
If anything, baseball is a gentleman’s game where performance should speak loudly enough without trying to harm the other person.
There is no honor in throwing punches on the diamond. It has its place in other sports, but fighting needs to stay out of baseball. It makes the game and athlete look bad.
Reach the columnist at nkwit@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @NolanKwit
