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The act of intentionally hitting a batter with a pitched ball has been around baseball for more than 100 years. The beanball is an effective and necessary part of the game. The only time it puts anyone in danger is when the proper protocol is not followed.

When a bench-clearing brawl occurs such as the one between the Devil Rays and the Red Sox last Sunday, eight out of 10 times you can trace the incident back to a pitcher throwing at a batter's head. That is a no-no. When hitting a batter with a pitch is done properly, however, it can play out like a chess game. Each move is a form of unspoken language communicated from team to team, manager to manager, player to player.

When you hit a batter correctly, you don't injure him. But you get his attention much quicker and can change the momentum of the game before the ball falls to the ground. If a purpose pitch goes at a hitter's head, or at his feet, the pitcher has failed to attain his objective. The pitcher will get another try on the very next pitch to get the job done, but the unspoken limit is three. If you haven't done it by then, you are not going to do it at all.

When a pitcher misses his target, which should be anywhere from the top of the knee to the bottom of the armpit, he has made things exponentially worse because he has shown, to both teams, that he is incapable of getting the job done. It does not carry the same amount of weight as not being able to get hitters out, but if a pitcher continually wilts when the game situation calls for a hitter to go down, he will lose the respect of his teammates and, potentially, his job.

Here are just some of many signals through the course of a game that may indicate a player is about to get hit on purpose and the corresponding message that is being sent:

• When it seems every hitter is crushing the first or second pitch they see. This usually means there has been a breach in security. Someone has been tipped off as to what pitch is called. It could be a pitcher moving his index finger as he tries to get a better grip for his change-up, or it may be the catcher is not closing his legs all of the way, which allows either the first- or third-base coaches to see the fingers he is putting down. It may be the sequence of signs used by the battery when a runner is on second base, or it may be the way the infielders are moving just before certain pitches are thrown. It even could be a hitter slyly looking down and back to the catcher's signs or movements.

The Pitcher's Message: What is the sign for me causing you pain? That's right, there isn't one.

• Any deliberate attempt to hurt another player. For example, when a baserunner has slid into a base with the spikes of his shoes up in the air, or if he has gone after a fielder's head in a collision or their knees during a double play.

The Pitcher's Message: Keep it clean or you will pay the price.

• If a hitter is taking too long to get back into the batter's box between pitches (a la Nomar Garciaparra or Mike Hargrove) as he fixes his batting gloves 20 times.