Charging the mound Charging the mound In baseball, charging the mound is an assault by a batter against the pitcher, usually the result of being hit by a pitch or nearly being hit by a pitch, such as a brushback. The first incidence of a professional charging of the mound has not been identified, but the practice dates back to the game's early days. Charging the mound is the most common initiator of a bench-clearing brawl. Before charging, the batter usually throws his bat and helmet aside so that he may face the pitcher unarmed (it is a very serious breach of baseball
Major League Baseball Pitcher of the Month Award Maddux (10), Pedro Martínez (8), Randy Johnson (8), and Johan Santana (8). Major League Baseball Pitcher of the Month Award The Pitcher of the Month award is a Major League Baseball award named by each league for each month of the regular season. The National League started recognizing the award in . The American League followed in . Upon the introduction of each league's award, pitchers became ineligible for the (position players') player of the month award. Players listed with multiple occurrences are denoted by parentheses containing the ordinal. The highest number of Pitcher of the Month awards won by