Anyone who has read my very first post to B/R knows that I am not a fan of the unwritten rules of baseball. I am even less a fan of these idioms during a spring training game.
On Monday, Baltimore Orioles catcher Jake Fox incurred the wrath of his own manager, Buck Showalter, as well as the ire of Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland.
What heinous crime did Fox commit? In the eighth inning of a game the Orioles were winning 13-3, with no outs and runners on second and third, Fox had the audacity to swing at a 3-0 pitch.
What's more amazing is that they didn't summarily execute him on the field after the game like a horse with a broken leg.
How dare a player swing at a pitch in a meaningless game that is intended to be practice for both teams? I'm not sure how much practice Fox needed at standing in the batters' box taking pitches, but apparently it was more than he thought.
I suppose the fact that Fox did not know if he would make the team at time didn't matter. Why would he want to try to hit the ball? So he could show other teams that he could be an effective hitter if the Orioles decided to part company with him? What madness is this?
After he drew a walk and was replaced by a pinch runner, Fox was subjected to an earful from Showalter, undoubtedly to let him know that his actions in this game, which Orioles won, improving their record to 0-0 on the season, would be reviewed, and that he would be subject to a lynching the following day.
I'm sorry, but did I miss the part where these games matter? It is my understanding that spring training is for just that: training.
By the way, the final score of the game was 14-9, Orioles, so perhaps a couple of insurance runs may have been helpful, if the game had actually mattered.
These unwritten rules have gotten out of control. Fights break out, players get beaned and injuries happen; injuries that could be avoided if players would play by the written rules of the game and not worry about the unwritten rules.
I love baseball. The traditions, the history of the game, the pace and the strategy. In a world where everything moves at the speed of thought, it is refreshing to take in a game that has no time limit and is absent the constant rush to get the game completed before the evening news.
That being said, baseball is not perfect. The leagues play different versions of the game because of the DH; umpires regularly blow calls that effect the outcomes of games; and the commissioner refuses to bring the game into the 21st century, but the game is still wonderful.
One of the biggest things it could do without, however, is this seemingly endless list of rules that everyone is just supposed to know.
At the very least, let's leave the unwritten rules for the games that matter and let these guys practice throwing, running, and hitting until March 31.
Isn't that what spring training is for?
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