Intent or Not

Dad --

Yes, it was nice to have one win against the Evil Empire. And Lester was awesome! But I want to look at Friday and Saturday's games. Not the beating that we took but a question that was on everyone's lips - was Sabathia's nailing of Pedroia intentional? Was it payback for the two batsmen that Beckett nailed Friday night in the 6th inning?

My answer is yes! I fully believed that Sabathia hit Pedroia on purpose Saturday. He nailed him square in the butt on the first pitch. Now both Tito and Joe Girardi danced around the question and said Sabathia just lost control, but I believe he had perfect control. Losing control means he would've nailed Pedroia on the arm, or the leg, but Sabathia got him square in his ass. So square, I think Pedroia's gonna be in pain every time he takes a seat on the bench for the next few days.

However I do not believe Beckett had intent. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a Red Sox fan and I hate the Yankees. I'm saying it because why on earth would you hit a batter when you're already down five runs with the bases loaded? Does that make sense to anyone? Certainly not me. But that was the second batter Beckett nailed.

Robinson Cano was the first batter to be hit and he might have been intentional. I think however, Beckett just lost control of his pitch. See unlike Sabathia, Beckett nailed Cano on the knee sending the second baseman from the game. In my book that's an errant throw. If you're gonna nail a batter on purpose, you're gonna do what Sabathia did and hit the batter on the butt or back. Somewhere that will make your point, but not potentially cause major injury. Cano had to be helped off the field, he was hit so hard.

The fact of the matter is, only Beckett and Sabathia know for sure if they hit those three guys on purpose, and of course they're never gonna tell. But from where I'm standing, it seems pretty clear to me that Beckett had actually lost control and Sabathia was dishing out a little payback.

Jenn