Yesterday I watched the end of a second round Wimbledon tennis match. Rafael Nadal, who has won 14 grand slam tournaments, was upset by the player ranked number 102, Dustin Brown. Near the end, Nadal was caught at the net and Brown belted an overhand smash from close range towards Nadal causing Nadal to cringe and duck his head as the ball whizzed by. Brown issued a gesture of apology ... twice ... to make sure that Nadal had seen it. After the match they shook hands.
When is the most recent time you have seen a pitcher offer such a gesture of apology to an opposing batter after throwing dangerously near a batter? After hitting that batter?
I realize that there's a difference between individual and team sports, differences among team sports, even differences in baseball in different locations: USA, Japan, Central and South America. I'm guessing that in Japan baseball apologies are issued.
So if pitchers in the USA do not apologize, doesn't that mean that the act was intentional? How else to interpret the lack of apology?
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