If there's anyone who should be familiar with the kind of throwback, old-school baseball Cole Hamels discussed after intentionally hitting Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch Sunday night, it's Tigers manager Jim Leyland.
Leyland, a baseball lifer, has managed in 3,203 games since 1986 -- when Hamels was just 3. But even Leyland's joining the chorus of critics displeased by Hamels' actions.
During his regular pregame radio show Tuesday night, he characterized Hamels' five-game suspension as being "way too light," and, according to MLB.com, suggested 15 games would have been more appropriate.
From the interview: "I don't know the man," Leyland said of Hamels. "I know he's a very good pitcher, a very talented guy, but when you come out and admit hitting Harper intentionally like that -- that ball could have missed, hit him in the head or something else like that -- and you come out and admit that, I think five games is way too light, in my personal opinion.
"I felt the way I read it, and I don't know if the kid meant it this way, but it was almost like a braggadocious thing. That's not enough. There's no way."
Separately, Leyland went on to mock preemptive warning to both benches during games, calling the practice "a joke." Returning to Hamels, Leyland suggested that rather than having umpires warn benches after a batter is hit, perhaps intentionally, that baseball has missed an opportunity with Hamels' suspension to "show that we mean business" by sending the proper message about what is and isn't permissible.