There is something extremely wrong with hitting someone in the head with a baseball. Just ask Tigers' pitcher Jeremy Bonderman, who is quoted in reference to headhunting as saying you can kill somebody. The Royals 5-0 victory on July 17th featured 4 bean balls and one bench clearing brawl. Players from both sides were fighting over what was deemed by umpire Marty Foster, to be unintentional bean balls, that?s Bean balls plural. It also featured Tigers' relievers Kyle Farnsworth?s patented double leg takedown of Royals' pitcher Jeremy Affeldt. A move baseball fans have seen Farnsworth pull before. All in all there were 7 ejections handed out Sunday. After the dust settled fans were left with the age old question, why do these brawls happen? In an era where male sports chauvinism has come under fire in every sports medium from golf to Auto racing, baseball remains untouched. It?s the baseball code, you hit my guy I hit yours. If things get testy, we?ll meet you at the mound with pipes and chains. This is baseball, a sport that tolerates a bench clearing brawl better than any other. Such was the case Sunday, when Royals pitcher Runelvys Hern?ndez struggled with control issues early. Not playing in 9 games left Hern?ndez with little control and a lot of rust. He hit two Detroit Batters causing Tigers pitcher Mike Maroth to retaliate by hitting David Dejesus earlier in the game. Then Hern?ndez appeared to hit Carlos Guillen on the foot in the sixth inning. Why umpire Marty Foster would not let Guillen take his base after the close call is anyone?s guess. The game had already included three batters hit in the first few innings, but Foster didn?t see it that way and beckoned Guillen back into the box. There was however no missing the next hit. Hern?ndez hit Guillen solidly in the head with his next pitch. After a verbal exchange Guillen charged and the benches quickly followed. One has to wonder though, in a sport as difficult as baseball, when a player ?inadvertently? loses control of a potentially lethal pitch, what the right response is? An accident is an accident, but an accident that could end your season, your career, or possible your life, is different. Because a bean ball can always hide under the veil of being inadvertent it?s hard to enforce. You cannot punish a guy if it just gets away, but that creates a loop holes that can be abused. So is it time for baseball to create a more regulated punishment for hitting batters and leaving the bench? If they did how would incidents like Sunday be handled? Baseball has always policed itself, the code they play by is the law of the sport. To change it may change the mentality of the game. The balance of players crowding the plate to pitcher throwing inside could be knocked off its edge. In truth days like July 17th serve as a reminder of the unspoken laws of baseball, the repercussions and retaliations of endangering a player. They also leave baseball fans wondering why something is not changed to avoid this. Sports are supposed to be a celebration of competitive spirit and athletic achievement. That is threatened every time a fight like this takes place. But fan bewilderment at the major leagues tolerance of bench clearing brawls is short lived. This is baseball, and there will always be a game on tomorrow. So in the days that followed is it any wonder that this tussle has already been forgotten. Other than Kyle Farnsworth?s Cael Sanderson-esque double leg, this base brawl was no different than any other. It?s imbedded in baseball culture that a few bench clearing brawls are just part of the season, part of the American pastime. When college football teams get into team on team fights, as they have in the past, fans, the media, and college officials question the universities integrity and players self control. But in baseball we can dismiss these fights and move onto the next steroids or Yankees rumor like they never happened. This is just baseball, these fights are suppose to happen. So where does this leave us? Nowhere really, we will continue to allow baseball teams to react with their fists rather than their heads until a star player is seriously injured. Then the offices of Major League Baseball will finally come under fire for never taking action to prevent these encounters. Just like steroids these fights will never be a problem until public outcry makes them one. NOTE Following the Tigers/Royals brawl there are three players looking at possible suspensions. Suspensions that if awarded will be appealed by the players association. If Tiger?s ace Jeremy Bonderman serves any of his suspension there is a likely chance he wont even miss a start.