ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Men Will Be Boys

A fiery relief pitcher for the Angels gives up a three-run home run ball to a Cleveland Indians batter. In a game that has no apparent consequence for the standings, but with obvious emotional satisfaction for the home-run hitter whose team has come from behind, the celebration is a little too much for the frustrated pitcher. He hits the next batter, who, understanding that a message has been sent to his team, rushes the mound. In the aftermath of the brawl that ensues, the pitcher assesses the response of his own teammates, and suggests that not all were as ready for combat as he would have liked.

All this actually happened in Cleveland on Tuesday night in this season of booted baseballs, ugly defeats and a departed manager for the Angels. Call it the cycle of diminishing returns. It was a spectacle in which all participants voluntarily reduced their own stature. With the passage of a few days, cooler heads prevailed. Two of the key players on the Angels were brought together by a coach to smooth ruffled feathers. But there is another audience that has to be kept in mind.

The lyricist Stephen Sondheim advises us to be careful of the things we say, because children will listen. The huge salaries dished out to baseball players are possible in part because of big television contracts. This can result in the broadcast of a game played in the Midwest directly into Southern California living rooms in the dinner hour, as was Tuesday’s game.

When a star vents his anger by hurling a baseball at the next batter who happens to come to the plate, some youngster is going to get the message that it is a cool thing to do. An inch here or there in location, and a baseball can end a career. Memo to the bullpen: Be careful of the things you do; children are watching.

In the same family room where the summer game enters our family life, the banter of young boys can deteriorate into a sudden squall of aggression. One bites the other, and retaliation may follow. How many conscientious parents try to educate both sides in such a squabble on the larger lessons of life?

Surely, kids take their cues too from role models outside the circle of immediate family. Major league baseball has its own punitive responses to deliberate throwing and fighting. It is also clear to regular observers that the culture of retaliation is enshrined deeply into the game’s unwritten code. That’s on display for the next generation’s custodians of traditions.

It may make sense to the players. It makes no sense to rational observers. It sends a terrible signal to kids who are watching and learning. Players who think retaliation is about honor ought to consider that.