Derrick Hall: Retaliation is a risky game to play

After Milwaukee Brewers starter Kyle Lohse beaned Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Didi Gregorious and shortstop Chris Owings on Tuesday night, D-backs relief pitcher Evan Marshall plunked Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun and was immediately ejected. The incident has led to a national conversation about retaliation, which D-backs president Derrick Hall says he doesn’t like at all.

“You know it’s going to happen, but what scares me is the safety of our players,” Hall told Doug and Wolf Thursday morning on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “Any time you’re in a situation like that, you now that Braun is going to get hit. You know that Goldschmidt is going to get hit. I don’t want a superstar to get hurt because there’s retaliation going on.”

Hall said he still gets concerned every time it happens since there is no written rule about retaliation and it seems to be a case not of if it happens, but when.

“The reaction from the opposition is hit their superstar. I don’t like that, of course I’m worried,” Hall said. “You’re going to go after somebody, but in baseball, I worry about it. If someone’s been hit already, and Goldschmidt’s on deck, I’m thinking ‘please don’t hit Paul.'”

He dissuaded any notion that hitting Braun had anything to do with the 2011 divisional series, which the Diamondbacks lost to the Brewers. He added that retaliation is a fickle unwritten rule, but if it must happen, the pitch needs to be below the neck.

“We know it’s a part of the game, it’s always been a part of the game. It’s something we’re all aware of, but you look now, there’s some severe penalties,” Hall said. “What’s awesome about it is no one got hurt.”

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