(05-21-2021, 10:46 AM)Phogge Wrote: When I played the zone was armpits to top of the knee. In college you could win by pitching to spots if you couldn't throw extra hard. In pro ball you could also pitch inside without some brain dead hotshot rushing the mound or giving you the hate look to show he was a "Man." We had a brushback sign and nobody took offense. Most of the field fights I was involved in occurred because of a high spike except that Dirty Al could get you into a fight by just showing up.
Shoot, we had the brushback sign in Little League. I recall playing against a team with a very wild pitcher, who hit three of our batters in the first three innings, including me and my best friend on the team. When that pitcher came up, I was catching, and I gave our pitcher the sign by patting the inside of my knee. Our pitcher (who our star, and who was Lee Mazzilli's nephew when Lee was 19 and in the midst of his rookie-A Ball Mets season), drilled him in the back. Murmurs of appreciation went up among the fathers, and none of the mothers said anything.
Boy, how times have changed.
Audaces fortuna iuvat