Video: It’s time for baseball’s beanball culture to change

Baseball proved again on Tuesday just how silly it can be. Yordano Ventura threw a 99 mph fastball at Manny Machado’s ribs. They looked at each other and we knew what was coming next. It was time to fight. So they threw punches at each other, Machado looking more the part of boxer than Ventura. Then Machado pulled Ventura to the ground with a part-DDT, part-tackle while players from both teams spilled onto the field.

It wasn’t the punches or the DDT or the players running out on the field that were silly. Nope, it was this part: That Ventura felt compelled to settle his beef with Machado by throwing a 99 mph fastball at his ribs. It’s not surprising and not just because of Ventura’s rep.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

Manny Machado gets nailed by a Yordano Ventura pitch. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

For years, this is how baseball has solved its problems. Now it’s time to stop. And — surprise — a few of the bigger stars in the game actually agree. I tackled this subject (with a dash of silliness) in my latest Open Mike video.

This isn’t about Ventura and Machado so much as it’s about baseball’s beanball culture, which has endorsed Ventura’s type of justice for decades. A fastball to the back or ribs or even the head is baseball’s currency of revenge. And for what? Something as dumb as looking at a home run too long. Or, like Machado’s case, getting into a shouting match with Ventura earlier in the night.

I don’t have a problem with the punches or the brawl, because at least that’s a fair fight. At least Machado (or any other players in his position) has a chance to defend himself. But when he’s in the box trying to get a hit and Ventura is on the mound, trying to inflict pain, it’s clearly an uneven battle.

Reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson spoke out about this after he was recently targeted by the Minnesota Twins because he traded words with a coach.

Major League Baseball has to do something about this,” Donaldson said. “They say they’re trying to protect players. They make a rule that says you can’t slide hard into second base. They make a rule to protect the catchers on slides into home. But when you throw a ball at somebody, nothing’s done about it. My manager comes out to ask what’s going on and he gets ejected for it. That’s what happens.

“I just don’t get the point,” Donaldson continued. “I don’t get what baseball’s trying to prove. If I’m a young kid watching these games, why would I want to play baseball? Why? If I do something well or if somebody doesn’t like something that I do, it’s, ‘Oh, well, I’m gonna throw at you now.’ It doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

[Elsewhere: Manny Machado getting applauded after brawl with Yordano Ventura]

Before any of you start talking about the wussification of the game, consider that throwing a 99 mph fastball at someone is the baseball version of a sucker punch. And, listen to Dodgers slugger Adrian Gonzalez, who recently spoke out against this dated baseball norm, telling ESPN’s Buster Olney:

“Throwing a baseball at a batter on purpose is the opposite of whatever tough is.”

This won’t change anytime soon, since baseball clings so closely to its code and its unwritten rules. But it will change in the same way society changes. It will change slowly. It will change when the stars of the game get fed up with the old way and make their own new rules (and yes, I’m OK with wedgies). It will change the next time a pitcher chooses not to solve his problems by hitting a defenseless batter with a pitch.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: