Baseball's Unwritten Rules

A few weeks ago I railed on the unwritten rules of baseball and how they are unwritten for a reason - because they're not official. I was at the library last night and I came across a book called Unwritten Rules of Baseball by Paul Dickson. Apparently I was wrong - a book does exist. So I checked out the book and thought I would share with you what I found.

Here are some of the unwritten rules listed in the first chapter:

• 1.2.1 Do Not criticize a Teammate in Print
• 1.5.0 It Is the Pitchers Job to Protect His Hitters and Enforce Many of the Unwritten Rules
• 1.8.0 Do Not fraternize with Members of the Opposition during the Regular Season
• 1.13.3 In a Blowout Game, Never Swing as Hard as You Can at a 3-0 Pitch
  

Again, I'm not a huge fan of unwritten rules, but in theory I guess I can accept these to a point where I won't comment any further. However, there are still a few that drive me crazy. For instance:

• 1.17.2 Don't bunt to Break Up a No-Hitter or Perfect Game. This one has been covered previously, so I will move on.
• 1.18.1 There Are Acceptable forms of Sign Stealing. This one has a lot of additional rules to it. To summarize - its ok for coaches and runners on second base to steal signs from the catcher, but it is unacceptable to steal signs and relay them to the batter in a way that is obvious. Also, it is unacceptable for anyone outside the playing field to steal signs and unacceptable to use any sort of mechanical or electronic devices to do so. Finally, batters are not allowed to look down at the catcher to steal a sign.
  

So here's the rub to me: it's ok to cheat, just don't get caught. That's a slippery slope, don't ya think? Who decides what is obvious? Who decides what acceptable? Isn't that setting a bad example for our youth? An even better question - isn't that along the same lines of cheating in soccer? We know how America hates that. I'm just saying. Stupid.

Chapter 1 was 102 pages long and I'm only halfway there. Still to tackle are Manager's Rules and Umpires Rules - I will be sure to fill you in with what I find.