Halladay hits his mark early

David Ortiz had to know it was coming.

Roy Halladay drilled the Boston Red Sox’ designated hitter with the first pitch of the second inning Wednesday night in Fenway Park. Just the way he was supposed to.

Earlier Wednesday, in the leadoff post of Pros and Cons, it said here that Halladay was due to return the favour of Tuesday night, when Jonathan Papelbon hit Adam Lind on the elbow with a no-doubts fastball in the ninth inning after Lind had smacked three home runs to power the Jays’ eventual 8-7 win. (Lind missed Wednesday night’s game with elbow soreness, which is easily understandable.)

Circumstances prevented the Jays from retaliating right away. You don’t hit batters on purpose with a one-run lead. So it was up to Halladay, one day later, to stand up for his team and his teammates and, once again, he didn’t let them down. It might not sound like a big deal, but it surely is appreciated throughout the clubhouse and by manager Cito Gaston.

Ortiz was the only candidate for a bruising, really. Like Lind, he is a designated hitter. He also was pretty much the only regular in the lineup. Manager Terry Francona gave most of the front-liners the evening off, Boston having clinched its post-season berth late Tuesday when Texas lost.

Halladay didn’t throw at Ortiz’s head. He threw at the same height that Papelbon hit Lind – and that’s a pretty good definition of control, too.

The umpires, who didn’t have it in them to react in any way to the first plunking Tuesday, figured it out and warned both teams after Halladay acted. But perhaps there was no need to. The score was as settled as these things tend to be. Besides, knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and his 64-mile-an-hour floater was the opposing starter and nobody tries to hit anybody with a knuckleball.

Comments

[F Crockett]

Well done, Roy. It's a shame that Yankee & Red Sox pitchers don't have to bat in the AL; the launderer of their trousers could probably use the work....

[Thane]

And yet, in the bottom of the inning, Johnny Mac got beaned. I didn't see it (I'm just following the game on the Star's gamelog) but was that no-doubts accidental?

Ortiz must have been rueing this game, as the only name player in the lineup.

[Mike Sherperson]

Darn, I missed it live, but I'm sure I'll catch it on the hilites tomorrow morning. Glad to hear it was done, but kind of silly, baseball, in that way, with the tit-for-tat stuff, and the brawls that involve everybody in the park running in, congregating around the mound, looking at each other. At least in this case it was two respected guys in Doc and Papi. They do their part and move on.

[2nd Guess]

Gee, so much anger after that nice Mr. Papelbon said he was sorry . . .

Seriously, I don't know why he bothered. He could have sent flowers to the Jays' clubhouse, but there's no way his plunking of Lind could be tolerated -- whether it was accidental (unlikely) or not. Good for Halladay. And good for the Red Sox, too -- instead of loud posturing (like a certain Mr. Posada and his Yankee pals), they knew retaliation was coming and accepted it.

[CBP]

I wonder if some of those who doubted Halladay would stick up for Lind in the last blog will come back and eat their words.

Way to go Roy and way to go Jays!

[PlatinumCard]

Good on Halladay for the move. Standing up for his team and winning in a complete game shut out...classy and consistently awesome.

Sundin and Halladay - the good times have all gone.

[Wes]

Someone "wrongs" a teammate in a hockey game, you send someone out there to kick their ass. Thousands of e-mails then make there way to the Toronto Star filled with people whining and crying about how hockey is barbaric.

Someone "wrongs" your teammate in baseball so you get your pitcher to zing a 90 mph at them, and that's considered admirable?

I love the double standard.

BTW: Good Job Doc.

[Gregory]

It made lots of sense why Papelbon hit Lind. His team was still trailing, better to just put him on base than to risk more RBIs (or a 4th HR) at the plate. So much fun now reading all the comments from the last blogs about how Roy and the Jays wouldn't have the testicular fortitude to hit a Sox player. Good call Perkins!

[Ted Krasowski]

Big deal - a plunk for a plunk. The Jays are still a fourth rate team - at best. Have a nice, long winter!

[Bruce Robb]

I understand the odd plunking, even when the 'score' of who owes who sometimes gets spread over half a season. But I have never understood plunking someone who has just hit a home run. It seems childish - as in kids in the playground. Kind of like, well, it's my ball, and if you don't let me play, I'm going home.

[WBB]

Awesome showing all around by Halladay. Big Papi just smiles and stares back at Roy - what's he gonna do?

We'll miss you Doc.

[Adam]

Way to go Doc. If this was your last start with us, it was certainly one to remember.

[St. Louisan]

If Papelbon had intended to hit Lind, he would have done a better job. Lind was leaning over the plate, and didn't get out of the way of an inside pitch intended only to get him off the plate. By contrast, Halladay drilled Ortiz. Too bad that essential elements of baseball, like the brush-back pitch, are blown way out of proportion by TV commentators and news reporters - and even some managers, I guess. The game today too often strives for drama, like the over-blown "walk-off" moment or a plunk. But to people who understand and appreciate baseball, the drama is there, just not usually in the knuckle-headed hockey way that non-baseball fans understand.