Major League Baseball is in an era of enlightenment, in which organizations are filled with bright minds of men and women who won’t accept the status quo without examination. The phrase That’s the way it's always been done is routinely ignored, thankfully, and more informed decisions are made about defensive positioning, pitch selection, bunts, platoons, trade value and about whether it’s worth sacrificing an All-Star catcher to the act of blocking home plate to prevent one run in one game in a 162-game landscape.
But somehow, as the sport has evolved, the practice of retaliation -- through the use of a baseball thrown at a prone human target -- is still in play, left over like a horse and buggy in the middle of an interstate highway.