Now who started this?

I found this story to be refreshing. (Yahoo Sports, Jeff Passan)
Usually, when a batter is intentionally hit by a pitcher, if angered enough to drop his bat and fight, he heads toward the mound.

But yesterday, when Twins outfielder Delmon Young was struck by a deliberately errant pitch, he took issue with the Twins rookie pitcher who threw earlier at a batter when the Tigers were stealing bases off him.

Young believed that Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman hit him in retaliation for a 94-mph fastball Twins rookie reliever Jose Mijares threw behind Adam Everett the previous inning … because he was mad the Tigers were stealing bases when trailing by six runs. Every Twin, in fact, from manager Ron Gardenhire down to the 25th man, faulted Mijares for Young’s throbbing knee. So when Young melted down, they stopped him – though if Mijares took a wayward fist to the jaw, no one would have blamed Young.

“I knew somebody was going to have to wear it,” Young told Minneapolis-area reporters. “You can’t throw behind one of their players … and expect nothing to happen. …

“He needs to pay attention to how baseball’s played.”

If you think about it, there's so much to be said in this story of teammates monitoring the bad behavior of their own, before it escalates into something nobody wants to see.

The postgame vitriol toward the 24-year-old Mijares was remarkable in its unanimity. Twins shortstop Orlando Cabrera said Mijares apologized. Others hadn’t heard any contrition. Either way, it wasn’t sufficient. Because of Mijares, a blowout evolved into an ugly situation that could have turned disastrous.

“It was a selfish act on his part,” Cabrera said. “Because as a team we’re here to win ballgames. We’re not here to get into fights or hit people.”

Both benches cleared as Young hobbled around. Home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez already had thrown out Tigers manager Jim Leyland for arguing. ... No one wanted to fight, really, but an ill-timed word here or a machismo-filled posture there could have caused something benign to degenerate.

Tempers cooled. Young remained in the game and never got to Mijares, teammates ensuring they stayed away from each other. The Twins were apologetic for causing the mess. Gardenhire intimated as much to Leyland.

“We told him we screwed up,” Gardenhire said. “They did what they had to do, and it’s over with. They did the right thing.”

Only in baseball, mind you, is intentional retaliation via speed-limit-busting projectile hitting flesh deemed the right thing. Young praised Bonderman, in fact, for keeping the beaning on the lower half of his body. In the midst of such barbarism – one man ravenously going after another wearing the same uniform – the teams themselves stuck by a code.

As they fought for a playoff spot, their mutual respect played out in the oddest manner.

“It’s hard for me to believe we just played the biggest game of the year and won, and I’m sitting here having to describe what happened,” said Twins catcher Mike Redmond, who apologized to Everett – a Twin last season – after Mijares buzzed him. “I don’t really know what to say. It’s up to him to figure out what he’s thinking.”

Mijares changed quickly after the game and escaped the clubhouse without talking to reporters. Outfielder Carlos Gomez said he offered to translate for Mijares, a Venezuelan who speaks limited English, but Mijares “felt so bad he didn’t want to talk.”

“On the plane,” Gomez said, “he told me he’s going to say he’s sorry. I hope they listen. I’m not a veteran, but I know you have to forgive.”
...
“Gotta understand and learn how to play the game,” Young said. “It’s not the minor leagues up here.”

UPDATE: Of course, you have complaints that trying to assess penalties after the fact often only compounds injustice.

DETROIT (AP) — Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski does not agree with Major League Baseball's decision to suspend Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman while only fining Twins pitcher Jose Mijares.

Bonderman was suspended for three games Friday for intentionally hitting Minnesota's Delmon Young with a pitch, and Mijares was docked an undisclosed amount of money for intentionally throwing behind Detroit's Adam Everett.

"I don't think the ruling makes any sense," Dombrowski said Friday night, before Detroit opened a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox with a two-game lead in the AL Central over the Twins.

"I don't know how the person who starts it doesn't get some sort of penalty too," Dombrowski added. "I've expressed that to people in the commissioner's office."
...
"This was nothing more than a great series until, for some unknown reason, a foolish pitch by a Minnesota pitcher," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm so sad to see the Tigers paying for it more than the pitcher who threw the pitch."