When Is It OK For A 30 Year Old To Beat Up A 20 Year Old?

Apparently at the ballpark!

In a series filled with bean balls and brush backs, the Tigers’ Rick Porcello drilled Boston’s Kevin Youkilis tonight and all hell broke loose.

Youk charged the mound and threw his helmet at Porcello before the two wrestled to the ground. Check out the video below:

“Ok,” you say, just another baseball brawl. Not quite.

Porcello is just 20 years old. Kevin Youkilis is 30. Is it just me, or is it a bit messed up that Youkilis went after a kid who’s not even old enough to buy a beer??

I suppose you can argue that Porcello is a professional and if he’s going to be on the mound throwing 95 miles per hour, he should be held accountable for his performance.

I get that. I’m just saying, when is it ever appropriate for a grown man to attack a kid a year and a half out of high school?

I guess I’m just having a problem with Porcello’s age. There’s a big difference between 20 and 21. If I’m reading a story in the newspaper about a bar brawl and one guy is 21 and the other is 30, I don’t really think twice about it.

They’re both adults, if they want to rumble, let ‘em rumble.

But a 20 year old? In my eyes, if you’re above – let’s say, 24 - fighting a 20 year old kid is off limits.

In the end, though, I guess it’s a heat of the moment type thing. I’m sure the last thing going through Kevin Youkilis’ mind as he was getting beaned was to check Porcello’s ID before charging the mound.

On the diamond, between the lines, everyone’s equal.

It goes the other way, too. Remember when Robin Ventura, 26, charged 46-year-old Nolan Ryan in 1993?

Matt Estreich for The Huddle