This is Rod Beaton's most recent column. Once more it is an appropriate time to sound the bell, issue the warning and stir up the population.
Pitchers are in peril.
It is a point we have made before and it is a point we will make again. We can only hope someone pays attention before a major league pitcher loses an eye or his life. At least nine pitchers were injured by balls hit back at them during spring training this year. The last two might have been the most dramatic. Toronto right-hander Chris Carpenter was hit by a smash through the box so hard he pitched forward to the ground in pain.