I'm kind of a stickler for the unwritten codes of baseball. Here's the deal; MLB has a rule book, and players are held accountable for breaking the rules in that book. However there's also a book of "unwritten codes," which isn't even a book per se. It's merely "rules" which have been passed down from generation upon generation of players, coaches, and fans. Most of these codes seem to surround respect for the game and the opponent moreso than anything else. You won't be fined, suspended, or held accountable in the traditional sense if you break one of these unwritten rules. However you certainly might find a fastball being thrown at your head, hitting you, or perhaps hitting one of your team's best sluggers. More importantly, you probably lose the respect of fans and your peers if you're labeled a busch league player or team.
I bring this up as a result of an incident in the 8th inning of today's 7-3 loss against Toronto. With one gone and the Blue Jays leading 7-3, Javier Molina drew a walk. He proceeded to steal second base when he noticed that Oriole first baseman Derrek Lee wasn't holding him on. MASN's Gary Thorne mentioned that there was a time in baseball where someone might take umbrage at something like that, implying that Toronto had broken an unwritten rule by doing that, which would prompt the O's to throw at a Toronto batter. (The irony is that the way I've always understood the unwritten code in that case is that if you're winning by more than five runs after six innings you don't steal or move runners into scoring position to manufacture runs. Toronto was up by four at the time, and furthermore Lee wasn't holding the runner on first.) Nevertheless, I found that interesting because Toronto is a team that has often been mentioned as having a reputation for breaking these unwritten codes. Perhaps not that one specifically, but they've always had a reputation for stealing signs. In 2005 there was almost a bench-clearing brawl between the Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners because Seattle thought Toronto was stealing signs.
So am I implying that the reason Toronto took two-of-three from the O's is due to busch league tactics? Survey says: not really. However the fact is that Toronto's roster indicates that they shouldn't be winning as many games as they are. So why are they consistently able to come through in the clutch against teams that in theory should be better than them? This may well sound like sour grapes; maybe it is, maybe it isn't. My point here is not to call out the Blue Jays, even though I'm using them as an example. However what I'd like to see across the board in baseball is some of the traditional unwritten codes paid their due respect. As an example, a couple of weeks ago the Colorado Rockies were in Milwaukee for a three-game weekend set with the Brew Crew. The first game of the series went to extra innings; long story short, Prince Fielder hit a walk-off home run. Granted that homer probably hasn't landed as of yet, however Fielder stood at home plate and watched it sail before rounding the bases. That's called showing up the opposing pitcher, and it shows a total lack of respect. As a student of the game and a purist of the game, I resent that. And to further show my old school roots when it comes to baseball, you're darned right I would have ordered my pitcher to throw at Fielder the next day had I been the Colorado manager.
The ironic thing is that if I managed the Rockies and I did what I described above, I'd be subject to a suspension or a fine. So busch league teams would potentially argue that the other guy is the true busch league team/player because they're the ones that are truly breaking "the rules." Here's another one; bunting in a no-hitter. If you're being no-hit after the fifth inning you're not supposed to square to bunt. (The idea is that the corner infielders need to guard the line so it's wrong for a player to take advantage of that by breaking up the no-no with a cheap hit.) Last season in Washington now former-Oriole David Hernandez took a no-hitter into the sixth against the Nationals. Someone squared to bunt, although they didn't get it down. The no-no bid was broken up in the next at-bat, however in the next inning Ryan Zimmerman got plunked. All players and coaches will argue that "the pitch got away" or something like that, however we all know in some cases.
Personally I think that these unwritten codes have a place in the game, and I wish that all teams and players would adhere to them. Many people would argue that I'm the one that's misguided for even bringing this up, as the object of the game is to win and you should do anything possible (within the rules of the game) to win. Since the unwritten rules aren't in the rule book, they're fair game. They may not be in the rule book, but that's not to say they aren't against the rules.
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