I just don’t get some of these so I hope someone can explain beyond just tradition.
Intentionally hitting a batter. I don’t even know where to begin. It is apparently ok to hit a guy with the baseball if
a) The last guy up hit a home run
b) One of your guys was hit by a pitch
c) Some guy on the other team did something to piss you off.
d) You’re the first pitcher to do it*
The warning system is asinine. Basically a pitcher gets a free intentional hit batsman but the SECOND guy to do it gets ejected. Why not the first guy?
BUT
2) It is bad form to brush back a batter wearing full riot gear hanging over the plate. I could actually see the logic with some of these batters crowding the plate to put a 90mph fastball in their ribs but apparently that’s bad. Not even that, but pitching inside without even hitting the batter is frowned upon. Better to hit a batter for an asinine reason like leaving a hanging curve for the last guy to drive.
3) Strike zones are umpire discretion. Last I checked, the strike zone is clearly defined it the rules. Now I get the angles may be off seeing how the umpire has to determine where a ball, moving very quickly, crosses the front of home plate. But it seems that umpires are allowed their own idiosyncracies. I grew up in a era when the high strike (above the belt) was not called. Wait! How can umpires ignore 1/3 of the strike zone?
So what is it? Lack of training or practice? With technology, they can have a batter and pitcher throw a few and say, “Hey Bill, you only got 86% of those right. You’re calling those outside strikes as balls.” Or is it “We’re umpires so go fuck yourself and we’ll call whatever we want.” and the league backs them up?
4) Bat flips. Hitting a guy with a ball for hitting a homerun is ok but flipping your bat if you hit a homerun is not?
5) Any other unwritten rules I forgot that we want to discuss?
Base runners headed back from third to first on a foul ball shouldn’t come across the pitcher’s mound; they need to stay in the base paths. The mound is owned by the pitcher.
This morning Mark Teixeira was on Mike & Mike and his take regarding Bautista’s bat flip was pretty good. To paraphrase: if it’s April and you’re up big, and you and you flip your bat like that, its a problem. If it’s late in the game in a playoff series deciding game, go ahead and have your fun.
Oh I forgot one that I learned in Little League that I still look for at a Someone-Beating-The-Rockies game. Never step on the foul line when coming out of the dugout.
As a local sports columnist put it succinctly, “Bat flipping is strictly showboating. Unless it’s your team.”
Another unwritten rule is about the pitcher and the batter glaring at each other. Glaring is the triple dog dare of adult playgrounds. It’s not a bluff or a psychological tool. Don’t do it unless you’re absolutely prepared for a fight.
Likewise, don’t bunt in that situation, either to sacrifice or for a hit.
The exception might be that it’s OK for the pitcher to sacrifice, but pitchers don’t bat much late in the game any more so that no longer comes into play very often.
Timing your pitch means standing in the on-deck circle and trying to swing your bat as the pitch goes over home plate. It’s just not done. If you watch a game on TV when the on-deck circle is on the screen during a pitch you’ll see the on-deck batter stop his motion as the pitch is being delivered - he never swings to work on picking up the pitcher’s timing. You do that at the plate, not before.
Most of these are mores, not rules. Some of them have to do with the taboo against showing up an opponent (e.g. bat flipping). Others have to do with playing for the sake of padding one’s statistics rather than for winning the game (e.g. stealing in the late innings when you have a big lead). Some have to do with attempts to gain what is seen as an unfair advantage (e.g. looking back at the catcher to pick up signs). It’s not that these offenses are illegal - it’s that they go against the culture of the sport.
I don’t know where you get that it is ok to throw at the next batter after a home run. If it was ok to do it wouldn’t cause bench clearing brawls and retaliation against your best hitter. It is not ok to do although it does happen at times.
Many of the unwritten rules mentioned in this thread exist only in the minds of a small handful of players.
Pitching inside is frowned upon?
Not true.
Ok to hit a guy if he previously hit a home run.
Not true unless he excessively celebrated.
Ok to hit a guy if the previous batter hit a home run.
Not true.
Base runners shouldn’t cross the pitcher’s mount when crossing the diamond.
Generally not true. I know there was that one A’s pitcher who got pissed when ARod did it, but that’s not typical.
On deck batter shouldn’t time the pitcher.
Also not really true as long as he’s in the on deck circle. When a guy gets right up next to the batter’s box to time a pitcher at the beginning of the inning or after a pitching change, that’s not cool.
Warnings are situational. Teams don’t get warned the first time a batter is hit by pitch in every game. Only if the umpire feels like it’s something that could escalate.
Bat flips and instant excessive celebration of a home run are generally frowned upon. That doesn’t mean no celebrating. Celebrate all you want after you get back to the dugout.
I’m always amused by the typical argument against bat-flipping or admiring your home run: “Kids are watching! You’re setting a bad example! You’re playing the game the wrong way, and they’re going to imitate you … therefore, the next time you come to the plate, I’m going to throw a fastball at your head.”