Unwritten Rules are Not Smart

[gunnarthor]

http://thebaseballcodes.com/2015/04/10/boys-will-be-boys-but-this-takes-things-to-a-whole-new-level/

 

Must have been a horrible moment for the fans.

 

They were probably enjoying the game and then that happened ... I can just see a dad not telling his son that baseball isn't safe to watch anymore.  "Son, sometimes, in a baseball game, players swear at each other.  I'm sorry you had to see that.  You'll never have to watch baseball again."

 

"But Dad, doesn't that happen in every sport?"

"It's not the same son, baseball isn't supposed to be physical." 

"But that wasn't physical, was it?"

"It could have been, if the pitcher had missed by another 6 inches.  It was darn near attempted murder."

"Wow."

"These baseball players are acting like spoiled children.  I can't believe their immaturity.  Throwing gum.  We should ask for our money back." 

"Is any retaliation permissible, dad?"

"Only for actual rule violations, son."

"Isn't that hypocritical?"

"Go to you room."

[Jham]

 

Yeah but there are rules and there are rules. Case in point:

Someone takes

. What do you do if that happens to your teammate? I don't know about you, but I would bean that guy every time I saw him, and hard so he (at least) spends a few months in the DL himself, since baseball does not do anything for dirty play and dirty players like that.

I agree: Throw the whole thing out and play to win every minute of the game. And pay them with their own medicine. That's the other part of the unwritten rules...

 

But in the end, wasn't Swisher technically doing us a favor by trying to get Nishioka out of the league on opening day?

[TheLeviathan]

 

http://thebaseballcodes.com/2015/04/10/boys-will-be-boys-but-this-takes-things-to-a-whole-new-level/

 

Must have been a horrible moment for the fans.

 

 

You're just never going to get it.  And that's ok, but these guys literally just started whining like babies over an errant tossing of gum.  If I had made that up as an example a couple months ago you might have rightly called it a preposterous example.

 

At this point, I'm not sure there is anything preposterous enough to suggest, that baseball players won't feel severe butt-hurt over.

[gunnarthor]

I'm pretty sure if someone threw a wad of gum at you, you'd whine or act "butt-hurt."

 

I'm honestly baffled by your anger on this stuff. It's ridiculous. For the fans of the Padres and Giants, it added a little more to a growing rivalry.

[TheLeviathan]

 

I'm pretty sure if someone threw a wad of gum at you, you'd whine or act "butt-hurt."

I'm honestly baffled by your anger on this stuff. It's ridiculous. For the fans of the Padres and Giants, it added a little more to a growing rivalry.

 

Someone threw a 90mph fastball at someone's chin over an errant throw of gum.  Something which, even thrown as hard as possible, with the most malicious intent, would at most cause you a minor irritation.  

 

I work with primary age children and we teach them not to make mountains out of molehills because it's stupid, childish, and counter productive.  But from adult athletes, playing a kids game, it's ok to act like that.  It's ridiculous and adds nothing to the game for anyone that sees those actions for what they are - juvenile.

 

You know how you build a good rivalry?  Competitive gameplay and high stakes.  Anything else is fool's gold.

[TheLeviathan]

Preach on Chris

[Willihammer]

Rock sounds like an inverse hipster. "Baseball's not going to be cool tomorrow because African-American kids aren't playing it today."

[ashbury]

 

Rock sounds like an inverse hipster. "Baseball's not going to be cool tomorrow because African-American kids aren't playing it today."

I wasn't not an inverse hipster before it wasn't not cool. Or something.

[TheLeviathan]

Fun be damned!

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I wasn't not an inverse hipster before it wasn't not cool. Or something.

You've got that turned around, ashburyjohn.

[SwainZag]

I cannot believe this thread is still going on....and I've never read it until now

 

All I have to say about unwritten rules..........

 

Have you ever played baseball?  I played for quite a long time and as a pitcher, if a guy is crowding the plate looking for a pitch it's perfectly within reason to brush him back.  If he doesn't move and gets a pitch on the elbow or you throw a little inside and get him in the ribs.....well that's the game.  I'm not giving up my inner half of the plate because he is going to crowd me.

 

I don't see the problem with giving a little chin music as a warning sign by a pitcher either.  You hit a ball I hit 450 feet and sat and watched it, great, thanks for showing me up.  Yes, you got me there, but that doesn't mean you might be getting one inside the next time you come up.  Levi, you have brought up several times using the baseball as a weapon and throwing at people to injure them.  While I'm sure it has happened, most bean balls are errant pitchers or are meant to send a message, not to injure.  

 

Also you have to consider that most people playing this game are people from the ages of 20-34 and are insanely competitive.  Small things push peoples buttons.  I've seen guys almost come to blows at a rec league pick up basketball game for unnecessary fouls and people hogging the ball, and this are for fun.  Competitiveness and testosterone run hand in hand with high levels of competition.  

 

[TheLeviathan]

 

Small things push peoples buttons.  I've seen guys almost come to blows at a rec league pick up basketball game for unnecessary fouls and people hogging the ball, and this are for fun.  Competitiveness and testosterone run hand in hand with high levels of competition.  

 

So that excuses acting like 6 year olds?  And even if people are irritated by small things, it's only baseball that has a whole series of rules justifying physical retaliation for it.  

 

Let Chris Archer be himself.  Let Gomez be himself.  The game is FAR better for it.

 

And it's fine to be competitive, but there is nothing competitive about beaning a guy for having a showy home run trot - that's just sour grapes.  That's just being a jerk.  Competition is going back out the next time and sitting his butt down with a strikeout.

[SwainZag]

 

So that excuses acting like 6 year olds?  And even if people are irritated by small things, it's only baseball that has a whole series of rules justifying physical retaliation for it.  

 

Let Chris Archer be himself.  Let Gomez be himself.  The game is FAR better for it.

 

And it's fine to be competitive, but there is nothing competitive about beaning a guy for having a showy home run trot - that's just sour grapes.  That's just being a jerk.  Competition is going back out the next time and sitting his butt down with a strikeout.

 

You see it as sour grapes and being butt hurt and I see it as part of the game.  Gomez could just have easily put his head down and trotted the bases.  How many times have you seen Pujols or Stanton admire their shots?  Celebrate when you get the plate or the dugout.  Is it what it is.  It's how I learned to play the game.  And you confuse brushbacks and chin music with hitting people on purpose.  A lot of guys get hit because they are crowding the plate.  A lot of pitches would be a couple inches of the plate, but hit a guys elbow or shoulder because he is on top of the plate.  It's the way it is and I really don't see a big out cry of any unwritten rules in the way the game is played.  

[TheLeviathan]

You see it as sour grapes and being butt hurt and I see it as part of the game.  Gomez could just have easily put his head down and trotted the bases.  How many times have you seen Pujols or Stanton admire their shots?  Celebrate when you get the plate or the dugout.  Is it what it is.  It's how I learned to play the game.  And you confuse brushbacks and chin music with hitting people on purpose.  A lot of guys get hit because they are crowding the plate.  A lot of pitches would be a couple inches of the plate, but hit a guys elbow or shoulder because he is on top of the plate.  It's the way it is and I really don't see a big out cry of any unwritten rules in the way the game is played.

 

I don't have a problem with brush backs.

 

"It's the way it is and always has been" is as weak an argument for anything as can possibly be mustered. Being a butt hurt jerk doesn't have to be the way it's played. It could, and bear with me on this crazy notion, actually let some guys have some personality! God forbid though....it's not the "way it is".

[Mike Sixel]

Who did it HURT for him to look at his HR? You are choosing to be offended over something that hurt no one, not one bit. And, that excuses throwing a ball at someone, and trying to hurt them? Immature, imo.

[TheLeviathan]

Baseball players are really professional whiners.   Though credit to the Yanks for not trying to hit anyone with a baseball over it, it's a bit better than most, even if their reaction is still dumb.

[sane]

Unwritten sportsmanship rule in Japan not to slide hard into second, I guess.

It was written in Japanese!

[Platoon]

The only unwritten rule that counts is, if you are going to move a guy off the plate, or actually intend to plunk him for some perceived indiscretion, nothing above the waist! EVER.

[Vanimal46]

After yesterday's events, we may have to refresh ourselves on this board that unwritten baseball rules are in fact, really, really not smart. 

[TheLeviathan]

Donaldson gets it

[formerly33]

Donaldson is right. What it really boils down to is this: certain actions are deemed politically incorrect on baseball fields, despite the fact they oftentimes wouldn't induce an arrest off the field. Because they haven't been politically correct for years, tradition says it's okay to not only get bent out of shape over these things but also to inflict unlawful punishment on the offender, never mind that I would be arrested for similar behavior.

 

I'm sick and tired of this ... and I'm sick and tired of the Twins' rotten attitude. It reminds me of the kid who thinks he can teach another kid he doesn't like how to stop being a jerk by being a jerk towards him. In school, this would be called bullying. Within a team, it's hazing. But when it comes to the Twins policing Donaldson, for some reason it's suddenly manly.

 

The ironic part about all this is that a lot of male athletes are right winged conservatives who scorn political correctness ... and speaking of which, I can't help but feel like the Twins are having a participation trophy attitude.

[Hrbowski]

Honestly, Donaldson is a crybaby. Wasn't he the one who punched Machado and called it a tag, but was really just mad because Manny wasn't hustling, and started using profanity and was menacingly walking towards Perkins because he was mad he didn't hit a home run?

[TheLeviathan]

Yup, Donaldson is a hypocrite.  That's what happens when you take all this stuff too seriously.

[Vanimal46]

How many MLB stars have to say the same GD thing in order for this to be changed? The batters don't like it, some of the fans despise it. If player safety is actually taken seriously, the MLB would implement suspensions and fines for intentionally beaning another player. 

[Hrbowski]

 

How many MLB stars have to say the same GD thing in order for this to be changed? The batters don't like it, some of the fans despise it. If player safety is actually taken seriously, the MLB would implement suspensions and fines for intentionally beaning another player. 

The only player who was intentionally beaned yesterday was Suzuki. And BTW, they do.

[TheLeviathan]

 

The only player who was intentionally beaned yesterday was Suzuki. And BTW, they do.

They need to be more harsh.

[jimmer]

 

Yup, Donaldson is a hypocrite.  That's what happens when you take all this stuff too seriously.

And if we are talking hypocrisy, for those who believe Odor got upset about the slide, if that's true, he's a serious hypocrite because he's done way worse on slides many, many, many times.

[TheLeviathan]

 

And if we are talking hypocrisy, for those who believe Odor got upset about the slide, if that's true, he's a serious hypocrite because he's done way worse many, many, many times.

 

Yup, it's why the "code" is so dumb.  It's enforced with virtually no accuracy, predictability, or reliability.  At heart, it's just an excuse to use when you're butthurt.

[Mr. Brooks]

The only player who was intentionally beaned yesterday was Suzuki. And BTW, they do.

That's only because Hughes is so terrible he can't even hit an adult human from 60.5 feet away.

[USAFChief]

That's only because Hughes is so terrible he can't even hit an adult human from 60.5 feet away.

No, that's because "beaning" means to throw at someone's head. No player approves of that.

 

Putting one in someone's ribs is not "beaning" them. Lots of players understand the utility of that.

 

BTW, good for Hughes.