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College player gets plunked by a pitch, responds by catching it and tossing it back

College player catches his own HBP, throws it back

By Chris Landers

There are many ways to react to being hit by a pitch. You can calmly take your base, or try to walk it off, or get hilariously manhandled by a 46-year-old. You can even, um, swing anyway, if that's what your heart desires. But if you're looking for maximum swagger? The response most likely to make the guy who just plunked you immediately flee the area? Just go ahead and catch the thing, like this Arizona State player did during a game against Washington State on Saturday:

It's almost as if he had run through this scenario in his head, because his only response is to coolly flip the ball back to the pitcher with a little stare: "I may or may not control matter with my mind, so, yeah, don't mess."

Shockingly enough, this isn't the first time this has happened. Feast your eyes on former Yankee Matt Nokes, who got drilled by a very much in-his-prime Roger Clemens -- you know, the guy who threw so hard his nickname came from a spaceship -- caught the ball and immediately tried to throw it right through him, because Matt Nokes has no regard for anything at all:

If only a certain bird had learned this particular brand of self-defense. We can still see the feathers...