Beanball

In baseball, a beanball is a pitch, similar to a brushback pitch but actually intended to hit the batter it is thrown at, often in the head. It is rarely used as a strategic weapon, and mostly used to vent anger and frustration. Teams with rivalries often find several beanballs exchanged a season.

The amount of hazardous beanballs thrown during and previous to the 1950s caused Major League Baseball to require that all batters wear batting helmets, starting in 1956.

A pitcher who continually throws at opposing batter's heads, not caring whether they get out of the way or not is called a headhunter. Some notorious headhunters include Bob Gibson, Sal Maglie, Hugh Casey and now Pedro Martinez.