Love It or Hate It?
By Sarah Spain
Love of Sports Correspondent
None of my uncles or grandfathers or cousins ever played in the big leagues.
My parents aren’t big baseball fans, so I didn’t spend the summers of my childhood at the ballpark hearing stories about the history of the game.
I’ve seen movies and read books about past generations, but the baseball I know has been played in the last 15 or so years. Maybe that’s why I have trouble understanding a few of the “unspoken rules” of “old school” baseball.
MLB analysts, players and managers all evaluate the game according to a sort of unwritten code of conduct. History and tradition have established a system of on-the-field justice. Players must know the rules of that system as well as they know the rules of the game itself.
However, in today’s baseball landscape, the code can sometimes seem as outdated as scheduled doubleheaders.
Let’s start with the basics. If an opposing pitcher pegs a player on your team, it’s OK — even necessary — for your pitcher to retaliate. It’s part of the code. Keep in mind, though, that a ball inside that skims an elbow is acceptable, but a rising fastball that races towards a batter’s head is not.
And let’s say you get plunked by a pitcher unnecessarily. You can charge the mound and punch the guy right in the face, but using your batter’s helmet or your bat as a weapon is, as Richie Sexson put it, “chickensh*t.”
If you do happen to start a fight, everyone — except perhaps the pimply 12-year-old bat boy — MUST leave your dugout to fight. It wouldn’t be a “bench-clearing brawl” if the benches didn’t, in fact, clear.
All right, so far so good. The intricacies of it all are a little confusing, but protecting your teammates while avoiding the use of potentially deadly weapons all sounds OK to me.
Here’s where the code gets a little trickier. Let’s say your team is losing 1-0 in the sixth and the opposing pitcher is throwing a perfect game. You’re not allowed to bunt your way on and spoil the no-hitter. Even though the point of the game, and your job, is to win, you’ve gotta “earn your way” aboard with a hit, not a measly bunt single. The individual achievement of your opponent is deemed more important than the success of your team.
How about if your squad is ahead a couple runs and the two guys batting before you both hit jacks? You come out and on the first pitch you’re swinging for the fences. It’s perfectly acceptable for the pitcher to drill you in the upper thigh. You’ve done nothing wrong, but baseball’s code says that pitcher is allowed to do anything to keep from giving up back-to-back-to-back homers.
If your team has a comfortable lead, you’re not supposed to try to go yard on a 3-0 pitch even though the guy throwing at you is the one who got himself in trouble. Similarly, the code says you shouldn’t steal a base if your team is up four or five runs. Truth is, a manager can’t exactly reign in his horses with a five-run lead when today’s offensive juggernauts can easily make up the difference in just one inning.
And the code continues with increasing obscurity. Sometimes it’s OK to take a guy’s legs out at second to stop a double play or barrel over a catcher on a play at the plate.
Sometimes, however, doing either of these things too hard or when you’re up by too many runs means you’ve disrespected the code. Some of the most confounding and confusing aspects of baseball’s self-policing system are the rules governing player celebrations.
Monday night, the Mets’ Nelson Figueroa gave up six runs in five innings to the Nationals, the cellar dwellers of the NL East. After the game, Figueroa thought the Nats were too excited about the success they found at his expense.
“[The Nats] were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls … I take huge offense to that. If that’s what a last-place team needs to do to fire themselves up, so be it. I think you need to show a little bit more class, a little bit more professionalism.”
Earlier that day, Hall of Famer Goose Gossage publicly derided the fired-up antics of Yankees’ pitcher Joba Chamberlain.
“There’s no place for it in the game,” Gossage said. “I will stand by that, and I love Joba Chamberlain … He’s a great kid … but there’s no one to pass the torch anymore, no one to teach the young kids how to act.”
While I understand the difference between showboating and celebrating, I don’t think everyone on the diamond always does. Figueroa just sounds like a sore loser. A struggling team like the Nats should be allowed to get excited about a win. They don’t get many. Imagine if Kevin Garnett complained about a player from the Milwaukee Bucks celebrating a sick dunk?
Yes, Chamberlain sometimes gets a little too excited. At the same time, is it really fair to expect a young guy facing a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and two outs to calmly walk off the field after a strikeout saves his butt? The passion and intensity that build in the moments before a play must be released along with the pitch, whether it’s in the form of a glove thrown into the dirt or a fist pumped in the air.
Some say the code is supposed to protect players from being embarrassed out on the field. I say these millionaire professional athletes could use a little showing-up every once in a while.
I love Chad Johnson’s end zone dances. I got fired up when I saw Michael Jordan wagging his finger in Dikembe Mutombo’s face after a nasty jam. I don’t even mind “Manny being Manny” after a homer.
Celebration is part of sport. The same baseball code that promotes throwing a 95 mile-an-hour fastball directly at a guy can’t claim to be protecting players when it condemns rounding the bases slowly and triumphantly.
Reconciling good sportsmanship with competitiveness is tough in any sport. In baseball, it seems downright impossible. The unwritten rules of the sport are as well known as the rules printed in black and white, but not as easily supported or explained.
In today’s era of multi-million dollar contracts, is it fair to expect players to sacrifice success for the code? Does the “game within a game” truly protect baseball’s integrity or is it an outdated concept that holds the game back?
Do you Love or Hate attempts to maintain “the code”?
(Sarah Spain’s column can read in this same spot each and every week.)
Comments
Brad on 05/13 at 06:04 PM
I think Figueroa is overreacting. I think Chamberlain was just showing emotion, not trying to show anyone up. What’s wrong with showing emotion on the playing field, in any sport?
I think it’s hard to prove intent when it comes to hitting batters, but retaliation is necessary as long as guys aren’t trying to injure each other.
I think some of these guys are too sensitive. “Oh, he pumped his fist and let out a yell, that offends me greatly”....give me a break! Don’t you have to be kind of mentally tough as a pro athlete? Ignore it, and get over it if it offends you. Or, in Figueroa’s case, don’t let the worst team in the NL East score a bunch of runs on you and they won’t celebrate “like softball girls.”
C.G. on 05/14 at 02:31 AM
Spain, great article. I’ve been playing baseball since I exited the womb. Not in the majors or anything, but up through the college level. I now coach at the high school level. In my opinion, all of these “codes” are a bunch of crap. You play the game to win it. When I’m coaching or playing, I try to score as many runs as I can. People often get annoyed at me for not letting up when my team is in the lead, but I’ve played in far too many games to get tricked into that little trap. Bottom line, no lead is ever comfortable enough. I’ve always been a shortstop and, in fact, had to go through major surgery and have an organ removed as a result of getting taken out on a double play ball. I can never hold that against the player who took me out, admittedly on a high slide. That’s baseball. The “code” is for pansies. In my book, if you don’t play like Ty Cobb on every single play you’re slighting yourself, your team, and the entire sport of baseball. I agree with Brad when he says these guys are too sensitive. I hope Joba keeps pumping those fists whatever his motive may be and I hope guys like Figueroa learn how to shut up and deal with it. This is not golf gentleman.
TDS on 05/14 at 03:10 AM
This whole Joba Chamberlain thing is being way overblown. The kid shows emotion. He isn’t directing it at any opponent. I say people need to get over it. Let Joba play and be himself out there. It’s not like he’s showing anybody up like Manny Ramierez does all the time. But that’s “Manny being Manny” so he gets a pass for some reason.
BK on 05/14 at 04:48 AM
I find myself in an eerily similar situation to CG - played ball since I had arm buds in the womb and am still playing hardball (softball really is for pansies) at the age of 31. I am our team’s player-manager (how’s that for old school) and play short.
That’s where the similarities end though it seems. It seems to me that what gets lost in CGs mind is that the code is about respecting the other team as competitors and the game as an institution. I don’t mind the celebrations (Weeks and the Crew had a great one after a GW hit the other day in Milwaukee)- but the showboating in baseball is getting to me. The slow home run trots, the watching the ball, the snap catches in the outfield - those are what the Code is supposed to take care of. These displays are about saying “I’m bigger and more important than the game and the other team.”
It’s fine to play like everyone day is the last day you’ll get to put on the spikes - it’s great to have emotion - it’s great to want to win - but for the love of the game, act like you’ve been there before!
Jamey on 05/14 at 05:34 AM
Baseball is a game where fat, out-of-shape guys like Fielder, fils et pere, can perform at the highest levels.
Forgot where I was going with this . . . oh yeah: It’s golf for poor white trash, and therefore, saddled with unnecessary and archaic codes that are supposed to convey “dignity” on a cracker-ass douchebag like Ty Cobb. Showboating is great because it makes baseball purists cry.
C.G. on 05/14 at 06:04 AM
BK, I have to respectfully disagree with the comment about these displays saying “I’m bigger and more important than the game.” The game of baseball is, in essence, a very passionate game. What many outsiders may not realize is that what happens on the field is not entirely captured by what you see on the TV screen, or even what you see from the stands. Trash gets talked, people play dirty, guys play mind games with other players, etc. This is not a new occurence to the sport. People have been fighting and “showboating” since the game began. In fact, the game was so brutal back in the days of “purity” that people would routinely leave the ballpark having seen a brawl or worse. This new PC version of sports is what annoys me the most. Everyone must do things as if they were entertaining the royal family. It sickens me. It takes a mental aspect away from the game. What you call showboating is just a form of intimidation, as is trash talking, etc. If you can’t take it then, in my mind, you lack mental toughness and you don’t deserve to win. Personally, I don’t mind using the code against another team to get an advantage. I’ll never forget my first at-bat in college. I hit leadoff and ripped a double on the first pitch. As I took a lead off of second, I said (so that the pitcher could plainly hear me) if he kept throwing meat he’d be seeing me pull up into second all day long. I knew this would piss him off and I expected him to peg me my next ups. He did. I took my base and then I promptly stole second, reached third on a passed ball, and scored on a sac fly. You can respect that style of play or not, but I think if you really went back to the good old days, any one of those guys would have given me a slap on the butt for this if it helped them win.
Baseball is America’s game and many would argue it mirrors American life. Maybe we live in a different country, BK, but I don’t know too many people who wouldn’t take advantage of any edge he/she could use to get ahead, whether that be through simple performance or mental intimidation. It’s just a fact of life. I say let it play out on the ball field. If you really trust in the game like you say you do, then the outcomes will work themselves out anyway. And, by the way, as far as I know nothing got “lost in my mind.”
Kevin on 05/14 at 07:36 AM
Jamey, leave the discussion to baseball people, ok? I don’t go down to Spitzer’s house and tell you how to cup your hands.
The point of the code is foster an environment of respect. Actions that are often considered showboating, such as standing and watching a homerun, practically walking around the bases, etc. are considered to be disrespectful. But keep in mind, an important thing here is context. When a hitter is down by 5 and hits a solo homerun, he needs to get around the bases and not gloat about his non-clutch hitting prowess. Such gloating is egregious in this situation and warrants retribution. If a player hits a game-winning homerun, then showboating seems more reasonable. That doesn’t mean it is completely acceptable, but the point here is that the context often determines the severity of the infraction.
Regarding base stealing, I can’t think of a single coach who (with an impartial, clear-head) would get upset about an opponent stealing when up by 5 runs. The only time would be in the 9th inning (again, context), but even then 5 runs is not an insurmountable lead. However, being up by, say, 7 runs or more late in a game and stealing is disrespectful. It is unnecessary and only serves to embarrass an opponent.
Telling a pitcher that if he keeps serving meat you’ll be pulling up into second all day is not an infraction of any code. It’s being a wise-ass, nothing more, nothing less. It should not affect the pitcher, and if it does, by means of him losing his control, or hitting you, then good for you. But he is not under any sort of obligation to hit the trash talker during his next AB.
Speaking of hitting batters, there is a time and a place. First of all, heads are absolutely off-limits. Anything that could be career-ending is off-limits. Now, if an opposing pitcher hits one of your best players, then as a pitcher I would hit one of their top players. Simple quid pro quo. If a batter pimps his down-by-5 solo shot, yeah, I have no problem running one in on him during his next at bat. This is somewhat like territorial pissing. The batter is not showing you respect and overstepping his boundaries, so you send him a reminder that you are still there and in charge.
The bottom line is respect. Show respect to your opponent, act professionally, and act like you’ve been in a situation of success before. No finger waging in faces. Leave that to the children engaging in playground basketball. It is true a lot of baseball purists get overly sore about code infractions, but the code definitely belongs in the game, and it is unfortunate to see people who disregard it or simply don’t care for it.
C.G. on 05/14 at 09:15 AM
Kevin, nice rebuttal. Jamey, just to clarify: “Baseball is where fat, out of shape guys can perform at the highest levels?” First, I’d love to see you step in against a major league pitcher without allowing a trail of urine seep down your pant leg. Second, are you saying that other sports such as basketball are much more difficult to play? So being 9 feet tall and dunking on a 10 foot goal must be pretty difficult. Give me a break. Ask Michael Jordan how he fared with the stick in the minors.
Paulie Knep on 05/14 at 10:59 AM
Nice article. I’ve had conversations with friends about this subject the past few days. With regards to Joba I think his display of emotion is fine because it doesn’t escalate to the level of taunting. As an analogy, in the NBA you are allowed to pump your fist and celebrate after a big shot, but you can’t pump your fist or point a finger in an opponents face. Thats taunting. Jobe doesn’t celebrate and stare down or point at the hitter, or fire a gun in his direction as Eckersley used to do. It is sometimes difficult to draw that distinction, but there is one. I think its refreshing to see a kid enjoying playing ball.
Ryan on 05/14 at 12:08 PM
Nice article. I definitely agree. Figueasd;klfj is just being a sore loser, Goose is just mad he’s the one not making millions. Football celebrations should be allowed unless they are excessive. You don’t like Chad dancing or Joba getting fired up don’t let him burn you as he streaks down the field for the TD or the pitch blow past you for strike 3.
DEH on 05/14 at 12:09 PM
If Gossage’s desire is to remain true to “the unwritten rules” of the game (which I have no problem with, as life loses menaing without tradition), I wish he would chastise Andy Pettite the next time he refuses to throw at an opposing team’s player after one of his teammates takes one high and hard, inside.
JohnG on 05/14 at 12:19 PM
Man, who gave Leo Tolstoy commenting privledges?
JohnG on 05/14 at 12:22 PM
Additionally, by writing down all these unwritten rules, doesn’t that make them written rules? Dude, that’s meta.
JoeE on 05/14 at 01:04 PM
So lets get this straight it’s okay to throw a baseball 90 mph at a batter, but the batter can’t throw his helmet at the pitch when charging the mound? Give it rest already next thing you know you all will expect the players to be in skirts.
As far as the unwritten rules go if you get rid of them they will in time become written rules.......Sean Avery ring a bell?
JonBBT on 05/14 at 04:50 PM
I think players should keep to these unwritten rules. Any time I see Manny hit a homer, or even a double, I think he deserves a heater to the back the next time he comes to the plate. The guy is a joke.
Biff Scooter on 05/14 at 08:18 PM
The Negro Leagues and the Latin leagues had flair...This was called showboating by MLB old farts. This argument has been going on forever. How about speeding up the game and returning it to its 2 hour roots then, old school farts?
bill on 05/15 at 03:43 AM
@C.G. on 05/14 at 11:15 AM
“Ask Michael Jordan how he fared with the stick in the minors.”
I’ve heard this one too many times. Who exactly in MLB could have any prayer of driving the lane even once successfully over 48 minutes against an NBA defense, even the Clippers? No one.
Steve on 05/15 at 03:59 AM
Great comments, Kevin. You’ve played the game before and it’s obvious. Every sport has it’s unwritten “rules”, it’s part of what makes it great to play. Act like you’ve hit a home run before and that you’ll do it again---also act like you’ve pitched your way out of a jam before as well. After all, isn’t that why you’re in the lineup?
Kevin on 07/17 at 08:29 PM
The code is one of the finest things in the game, everyone at every level should take it into account. Manny for example, I believe he breaks, and because of that I hate him… But its a great tradition
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