Acuña will have more chances at greatness
Ronald Jose Acuña Blanco, Jr. knows all about baseball’s unwritten rules. The latest in a long line of talents to hail from Venezuela, he grew up understanding the game and its nuances, and thereby pledging to act accordingly. It’s why, since he made his professional debut three years ago (and most definitely since making his first Major League Baseball start in April), he has seen fit to work hard, play hard, and refrain from celebrating his progress as if he were showing up the sport and its practitioners.
Considering Acuña’s knowledge of tradition, he may well have expected to be challenged Wednesday night. After all, he had homered in each of his last five games and, even more impressively, going yard leading off in the last three. As things turned out, the Marlins’ Jose Ureña had another, more direct plan; the right hander plunked him on the very first pitch with a whopper of a fastball clocked at 97.5 miles per hour. No initial attempts to protect the plate. No throws low and inside to make him back off. Just an out-and-out heater from the get-go.
Needless to say, the Braves protested, and to the point where manager Brian Snitker was ejected and benches were cleared twice. Meanwhile, Acuña managed to stay in the contest, but only until the second inning, when he felt stiffness in his left elbow as a result of the hit. Thankfully, post-match X-rays proved negative. But what if they showed a fracture that required him to miss time? What if the beaning resulted in worse? It would have been a blow to the franchise’s efforts to protect its division lead, not to mention his own career.
Naturally, Ureña insisted that the hit was unintentional, the result of a throw that simply got away. And, given the pitcher’s relative lack of control, it would have been a plausible explanation, too, had circumstances not made the purpose obvious. There wasn’t even a hint of subterfuge or an apologetic tip of the cap. Perhaps it’s why other Marlins distanced themselves from the move, indicating that the development was borne of a lone-wolf decision.
MLB officials wasted no time penalizing Ureña in a manner entirely consistent with previous practice. He was suspended for six games, which means he would miss two starts at most. And therein lies the rub: the standard punishment for players who do not trek to the field every day is a joke. Meanwhile, Acuña went about his business, going for a single in his next outing to extend his hitting streak but missing out on doing the same to his tally of homers.
At 20 and teeming with skill, Acuña would have more chances at greatness, of course. Sadly, it doesn’t feel the same for the MLB, which has suffered from a significant drop in interest of late, and which needs to protect its biggest names from the pitfalls of adhering to the familiar. It may be hard to break from tradition, but when the outcomes don’t buck a disturbing trend, doing the same thing over and over again is the very definition of insanity.