As professional pitchers learn their trade, there is probably a moment when a coach or a teammate teaches them the art of answering questions about apparent retaliation, because the same lines are uttered over and over. "I was just trying to pitch inside," generations of poker-faced hurlers have said. Or, "That one just got away from me."
Keone Kela spoke outside those long-established bounds the other day after he threw a fastball near the head of the Reds' Derek Dietrich, a pitch that eventually led to one of the nastiest fights of the summer. Kela was honest, saying, "The reason I went up and in was strictly, one, to show my intent with my pitch, and to pretty much let Dietrich know that I didn't necessarily agree with the way things went down.
"Of course, people could say it was overdue. At the end of the day, this is baseball. I have to protect my teammates, and I have to do what I feel is right. Not only that, you have to pitch in. That's part of this game. The day that we're not allowed to pitch in is the day that the game of baseball forever changes."