You Win Some, You Lose Some, and Sometimes It Rains

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

Baseball is more steeped in tradition than any sport we know. Baseball provides characters, stories, statistics, and information for fans to consume in volumes that are unmatched. But often, the unwritten rules of the game remain a mystery to the common spectator. Within the sport, all levels of participants are fully aware. From clubhouse attendants, through all the field personnel and even up through the executive level of every club, the time honored rules are followed and passed on to the next generation.

Several smaller "rules" can often be observed many times during any given game. Watching closely to the routines between pitches and innings will reveal many time honored traditions.

A simple unwritten rule that is followed requires that a lead off hitter not step in the batters box or be too close to it while the pitcher is warming up. Being too close and attempting to time the pitcher with practice swings will usually result in a brush back pitch during the at bat. 

Some pitchers may not even wait until the actual at bat. Hugh Casey, a pitcher for the Dodgers in the 1940s, let Marty Marion of the Cardinals know that he did not appreciate him standing eight feet from home plate and timing his warm up pitches. When Marion did not stop his swinging, Casey buzzed the next pitch directly at Marion's head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Have you ever noticed how a batter will not step in front of the catcher or umpire on his way to the batters box? There is certain territory that belongs to certain positions and until a batter is in the box, the home plate area belongs to the catcher and umpire. Out of respect for them, a batter will circle behind both of them in order to take up his position in the box. Those that have broken this rule have been the recipient of some chin music and maybe a borderline strike call.

Watch carefully when a fielder runs towards a dugout in an attempt to catch a foul pop up. If he is running towards his own dugout, teammates on the bench will call out the remaining amount of room left before reaching the steps. They will also gather in case they are needed to secure the player and save him from tumbling into the dugout.

If the fielder is running towards the opponent's dugout, those players are suddenly struck as mute and paralyzed and will not offer any help. While it seems like a simple premise, the unwritten rule is that you don't help the opposition make a play!

If a batter gets hit with a pitch, it is the result of the pitcher losing control or exacting revenge for an earlier action. Regardless, as a batter, you do not rub the spot where the ball hit. Especially in this day and age where so many hitters are wearing pieces of armor to the plate, rubbing a sore spot would show enough weakness to spur the pitcher on.

The umpires code of unwritten rules is numerous and somewhat specific to each ump. However, one thing that is universal is not showing up an umpire. In order to voice a complaint regarding a pitch, a hitter must remain facing the pitcher, not turn his head towards the ump, and then speak. If he addresses the umpire with his objection directly, it will be noted and may even result in an immediate ejection.

In addition, when arguing any call an umpire has made, it is imperative to not make it personal. A player may complain about a call and attach a series of derogatory adjectives in describing the call, but if the player attaches those adjectives in describing the umpire, he will be taking an early shower.

Staying on the topic of respect and not showing up other participants, it is also known that teammates and managers are not to be shown up by players. An extreme example of a player not making his manager look bad occurred back in the 1960's.

Standing around the batting cage before a game in 1964, Giants manager Alvin Dark remarked while watching Gaylord Perry hit, "They will put a man on the moon before he hits a home run." As it is an unwritten rule to never show up a teammate or one's manager, Perry considerately refrained from hitting his first homer until just a few minutes after Apollo 11's lunar module had touched down on the moon.

While the historic touchdown occurred around 1:40 pm on July 20, 1969, Perry waited until the bottom of the third inning of a day game, around 2:00 pm to connect for his first career round tripper against the Dodgers.

One of the main unwritten rules involves a teammate getting hit by a pitch. This requires his pitcher to then hit one of the opposing players. Until recently, players policed themselves through this rule. Currently, with warnings and automatic ejections issued quickly, (along with suspensions to follow) the practice of retaliation has become a little more subtle and a lot more infrequent. It is much easier today for a pitcher to hit a batter and not worry about the repercussions.

Hitters feel much more comfortable as well since nothing is really going to happen, Bob Gibson is retired...

All this because I know more about nothing...