Nationals’ Morgan suspended seven games

[Dogknot3]

I assumed he threw the ball at a fan and wasn't just lobbing the ball as a souvenir. 

Is there any video of this?  Players throw th eballs in the stands all the time.  Intent matters big time and so does the strength of his throw.

[Thunder]

With Morgan's lousy arm...it's no surprise that he didn't hit what he was aiming for.

[scrapiron]

I assumed he threw the ball at a fan and wasn't just lobbing the ball as a souvenir. 

Is there any video of this?  Players throw th eballs in the stands all the time.  Intent matters big time and so does the strength of his throw.

Intent only matters when considering the severity of the punishment.  Otherwise, intent is inconsequential.  Even if a ball is lobbed into a crowd, if it hurts someone, the player throwing the ball is responsible.  What if a player lobs it into the stands and hits a kid in the head and it does some serious damage?  Is he still not at fault because he didn't intend to hurt the kid?  What if it hit an old lady in the face and broke her nose?  Do you still consider him blameless because it wasn't his intent?

[The Great Goemon]

I assumed he threw the ball at a fan and wasn't just lobbing the ball as a souvenir. 

Is there any video of this?  Players throw th eballs in the stands all the time.  Intent matters big time and so does the strength of his throw.

Intent only matters when considering the severity of the punishment.  Otherwise, intent is inconsequential.  Even if a ball is lobbed into a crowd, if it hurts someone, the player throwing the ball is responsible.  What if a player lobs it into the stands and hits a kid in the head and it does some serious damage?  Is he still not at fault because he didn't intend to hurt the kid?  What if it hit an old lady in the face and broke her nose?  Do you still consider him blameless because it wasn't his intent?

Yes, because as others have noted, players lobbing balls into the stands is standard practice in MLB. As a fan, you expect players to toss balls into the stands under cirtain circumstances, so you're implicitly accepting the risk of being accidentally hit by a tossed ball when you buy a ticket. What's not standard practice is throwing balls into the stands trying to hit someone. That's what Nyjer is in trouble for.

[shamtown]

With Morgan's lousy arm...it's no surprise that he didn't hit what he was aiming for.

Kind of surprised he made it into the stands at all.

[Piratesprospects]

His intent doesn't matter.  If he injured a fan throwing a ball into the stands, he deserves to be suspended.  Doesn't matter if he lobbed it or reared back and let it fly.  Players aren't supposed to throw the ball into the stands for just that reason.

There's a huge difference between what Morgan is accused of, and what he actually did.  Lobbing a ball in to the stands when people are asking for a ball isn't wrong.  If everyone fails to catch it, and it hits someone who wasn't looking, that's not Morgan's fault.

Now if Morgan throws the ball with intent to hit someone, that's a different story.

A person was injured and you want it to be no ones fault.  He hit a guy in the temple with the ball.  The guy was not looking for a souvenir when it happened, he had his head turned and was looking at the scoreboard.  No one else threw the ball and it didn't just jump into the stands under its own power.  Nyjer is the only one to blame.  Of course you might also say the souvenir hungry fans are responsible as well, but they didn't throw it.

None of that considers intent.  If there was intent for Nyjer to throw the ball and hurt a fan, then there should be blame.  If the intent was to throw a ball to the fans, then Nyjer did nothing wrong.  It's just an accident.

[shamtown]

His intent doesn't matter.  If he injured a fan throwing a ball into the stands, he deserves to be suspended.  Doesn't matter if he lobbed it or reared back and let it fly.  Players aren't supposed to throw the ball into the stands for just that reason.

There's a huge difference between what Morgan is accused of, and what he actually did.  Lobbing a ball in to the stands when people are asking for a ball isn't wrong.  If everyone fails to catch it, and it hits someone who wasn't looking, that's not Morgan's fault.

Now if Morgan throws the ball with intent to hit someone, that's a different story.

A person was injured and you want it to be no ones fault.  He hit a guy in the temple with the ball.  The guy was not looking for a souvenir when it happened, he had his head turned and was looking at the scoreboard.  No one else threw the ball and it didn't just jump into the stands under its own power.  Nyjer is the only one to blame.  Of course you might also say the souvenir hungry fans are responsible as well, but they didn't throw it.

None of that considers intent.  If there was intent for Nyjer to throw the ball and hurt a fan, then there should be blame.  If the intent was to throw a ball to the fans, then Nyjer did nothing wrong.  It's just an accident.

Even so accidents are regularly punishable in real life.  If I accidently forget to do something at work, and cost the company a few thousand dollars I will be punished, and rightfully so.  If I accidentally don't use my turn signal and cause an accident it's my fault.  If I don't pay attention to the speedometer and go over the limit I will get a ticket.  That's life in the real world.... I have little sympathy for Morgan.

[Piratesprospects]

His intent doesn't matter.  If he injured a fan throwing a ball into the stands, he deserves to be suspended.  Doesn't matter if he lobbed it or reared back and let it fly.  Players aren't supposed to throw the ball into the stands for just that reason.

There's a huge difference between what Morgan is accused of, and what he actually did.  Lobbing a ball in to the stands when people are asking for a ball isn't wrong.  If everyone fails to catch it, and it hits someone who wasn't looking, that's not Morgan's fault.

Now if Morgan throws the ball with intent to hit someone, that's a different story.

A person was injured and you want it to be no ones fault.  He hit a guy in the temple with the ball.  The guy was not looking for a souvenir when it happened, he had his head turned and was looking at the scoreboard.  No one else threw the ball and it didn't just jump into the stands under its own power.  Nyjer is the only one to blame.  Of course you might also say the souvenir hungry fans are responsible as well, but they didn't throw it.

None of that considers intent.  If there was intent for Nyjer to throw the ball and hurt a fan, then there should be blame.  If the intent was to throw a ball to the fans, then Nyjer did nothing wrong.  It's just an accident.

Even so accidents are regularly punishable in real life.  If I accidently forget to do something at work, and cost the company a few thousand dollars I will be punished, and rightfully so.  If I accidentally don't use my turn signal and cause an accident it's my fault.  If I don't pay attention to the speedometer and go over the limit I will get a ticket.  That's life in the real world.... I have little sympathy for Morgan.

Those aren't cases of accidents.  Those are cases of neglect.  You would have neglected to do a job duty, you would have neglected to use your signal, and you would have neglected to stay under the limit.  You can't say it was an accident, because the only accident involved was you forgetting to do those important things.

With Morgan, I believe his intentions were to just toss a ball in to the stands with no harm intended.  I believe this because he's done this many times, and because there was a Philly fan account that said exactly that.  You could just as easily blame the fans around Morgan for not catching the ball, as that would be a case of neglect.  Players all around the majors toss baseballs in to the stands.  Why should Morgan be punished because this one group of fans missed the catch, and the ball accidentally hurt someone, when all around the majors, other fans catch the same ball with ease?

[shamtown]

His intent doesn't matter.  If he injured a fan throwing a ball into the stands, he deserves to be suspended.  Doesn't matter if he lobbed it or reared back and let it fly.  Players aren't supposed to throw the ball into the stands for just that reason.

There's a huge difference between what Morgan is accused of, and what he actually did.  Lobbing a ball in to the stands when people are asking for a ball isn't wrong.  If everyone fails to catch it, and it hits someone who wasn't looking, that's not Morgan's fault.

Now if Morgan throws the ball with intent to hit someone, that's a different story.

A person was injured and you want it to be no ones fault.  He hit a guy in the temple with the ball.  The guy was not looking for a souvenir when it happened, he had his head turned and was looking at the scoreboard.  No one else threw the ball and it didn't just jump into the stands under its own power.  Nyjer is the only one to blame.  Of course you might also say the souvenir hungry fans are responsible as well, but they didn't throw it.

None of that considers intent.  If there was intent for Nyjer to throw the ball and hurt a fan, then there should be blame.  If the intent was to throw a ball to the fans, then Nyjer did nothing wrong.  It's just an accident.

Even so accidents are regularly punishable in real life.  If I accidently forget to do something at work, and cost the company a few thousand dollars I will be punished, and rightfully so.  If I accidentally don't use my turn signal and cause an accident it's my fault.  If I don't pay attention to the speedometer and go over the limit I will get a ticket.  That's life in the real world.... I have little sympathy for Morgan.

Those aren't cases of accidents.  Those are cases of neglect.  You would have neglected to do a job duty, you would have neglected to use your signal, and you would have neglected to stay under the limit.  You can't say it was an accident, because the only accident involved was you forgetting to do those important things.

With Morgan, I believe his intentions were to just toss a ball in to the stands with no harm intended.  I believe this because he's done this many times, and because there was a Philly fan account that said exactly that.  You could just as easily blame the fans around Morgan for not catching the ball, as that would be a case of neglect.  Players all around the majors toss baseballs in to the stands.  Why should Morgan be punished because this one group of fans missed the catch, and the ball accidentally hurt someone, when all around the majors, other fans catch the same ball with ease?

Because he hurt a fan.  Not catching a ball, and throwing a ball are two different things.  He threw the ball on purpose, not being able to catch a ball isn't done on purpose.  Besides we really don't know all the details.  Morgan is a hot head, and it's just as likely he threw it into the stands out of frustration.

I have kids.  If a few kids from the neighbor come to my house to play with them in my yard on the swingset and I push one of the kids on the swing and he breaks his arm there is a very real chance I will be responsible for this and will be held accountable.

[Piratesprospects]

His intent doesn't matter.  If he injured a fan throwing a ball into the stands, he deserves to be suspended.  Doesn't matter if he lobbed it or reared back and let it fly.  Players aren't supposed to throw the ball into the stands for just that reason.

There's a huge difference between what Morgan is accused of, and what he actually did.  Lobbing a ball in to the stands when people are asking for a ball isn't wrong.  If everyone fails to catch it, and it hits someone who wasn't looking, that's not Morgan's fault.

Now if Morgan throws the ball with intent to hit someone, that's a different story.

A person was injured and you want it to be no ones fault.  He hit a guy in the temple with the ball.  The guy was not looking for a souvenir when it happened, he had his head turned and was looking at the scoreboard.  No one else threw the ball and it didn't just jump into the stands under its own power.  Nyjer is the only one to blame.  Of course you might also say the souvenir hungry fans are responsible as well, but they didn't throw it.

None of that considers intent.  If there was intent for Nyjer to throw the ball and hurt a fan, then there should be blame.  If the intent was to throw a ball to the fans, then Nyjer did nothing wrong.  It's just an accident.

Even so accidents are regularly punishable in real life.  If I accidently forget to do something at work, and cost the company a few thousand dollars I will be punished, and rightfully so.  If I accidentally don't use my turn signal and cause an accident it's my fault.  If I don't pay attention to the speedometer and go over the limit I will get a ticket.  That's life in the real world.... I have little sympathy for Morgan.

Those aren't cases of accidents.  Those are cases of neglect.  You would have neglected to do a job duty, you would have neglected to use your signal, and you would have neglected to stay under the limit.  You can't say it was an accident, because the only accident involved was you forgetting to do those important things.

With Morgan, I believe his intentions were to just toss a ball in to the stands with no harm intended.  I believe this because he's done this many times, and because there was a Philly fan account that said exactly that.  You could just as easily blame the fans around Morgan for not catching the ball, as that would be a case of neglect.  Players all around the majors toss baseballs in to the stands.  Why should Morgan be punished because this one group of fans missed the catch, and the ball accidentally hurt someone, when all around the majors, other fans catch the same ball with ease?

Because he hurt a fan.  Not catching a ball, and throwing a ball are two different things.  He threw the ball on purpose, not being able to catch a ball isn't done on purpose.  Besides we really don't know all the details.  Morgan is a hot head, and it's just as likely he threw it into the stands out of frustration.

Based on what we do know about Morgan (the history of a playful back and forth with the fans, the history of giving balls away to the fans on the road, and the accounts from the game that say he didn't mean to hurt a fan) it isn't likely that he threw the ball in to the stands out of frustration.

Also, while throwing a ball is intentional, the result is out of Morgan's control.  Morgan can't be punished for a circumstantial outcome, such as everyone failing to catch the ball, and the ball hitting a fan.  That's a risk with every throw in to the stands.  If you punish Morgan, you have to punish every outfielder who throws a ball in to the stands, regardless of the outcome.  Otherwise it's like only pulling someone over for speeding if they cause an accident.

[gorillagogo]

MLB explicitly states at every baseball game that balls, bats, or other objects can leave the playing field and that fans assume the risk for their own safety. If Morgan was just tossing the ball into the stands as a souvenir, he did nothing wrong and the fan is at fault for not paying attention.

I'm reminded of the last game I attended at Three Rivers. I was talking to my buddies so I had my head turned when Mitch Meluskey shanked a foul ball down the third base line and it hit me. If I had been paying attention I could have easily caught the ball, but instead it bounced off my knee and some other guy wound up with the souvenir. I wasn't hurt but I easily could have been, simply because I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.

[scrapiron]

MLB explicitly states at every baseball game that balls, bats, or other objects can leave the playing field and that fans assume the risk for their own safety. If Morgan was just tossing the ball into the stands as a souvenir, he did nothing wrong and the fan is at fault for not paying attention.

I'm reminded of the last game I attended at Three Rivers. I was talking to my buddies so I had my head turned when Mitch Meluskey shanked a foul ball down the third base line and it hit me. If I had been paying attention I could have easily caught the ball, but instead it bounced off my knee and some other guy wound up with the souvenir. I wasn't hurt but I easily could have been, simply because I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.

Right the warning is about balls that are put in play, batted or thrown.  That warning is not about some careless outfielder flinging a ball into the stands in what was apparently a negligent manner.  Most fans attention isn't on the field after three outs have been recorded.  They shouldn't have to protect themselves from balls thrown into the stands intentionally.  Yes, he intentionally threw the ball into the stands.  It was not a normal part of play.  It doesn't matter if every player tosses balls into the stands.  Usually, a ball tossed into the stands isn't going to hurt someone.  This one was thrown hard enough to leave a lump on the man's head.  It was negligent.  Was he trying to intentionally hit someone?  MLB will determine that at the hearing.  In any case, Morgan is accountable.

[Dogknot3]

What was yoru first line?  Did you have the word "thrown" in there?

What did Morgan do?  He threw it, right?

By the way, a turn signal can not be at fault of an accident while driving a vehicle.

[BooyahCanada]

The wheels are coming off for Morgan. Last night he bowls over Brett Hayes, and tonight he starts a brawl?

Did you guys see him as he was being escorted off the field? What has gotten into this guy?

[SammyKhalifa]

It's crazy watch unfold.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/09/01/nyjer-morgan-charges-mound-setting-off-brawl-between-nationals/