The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime [Paperback]

Jason Turbow (Author), Michael Duca (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 22, 2011

Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. What truly governs the Major League game is a set of unwritten rules, some of which are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), and some of which only a minority of players are even aware of (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining.
 
At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field.
 
With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly as long as baseball has existed in its current form, so too have unofficial rules that professional players have strictly adhered to. Yet as Turnbow demonstrates in this highly entertaining read, every rule of the code has certain variations. Most casual baseball fans are keenly aware of many topics that Turnbow broaches, and some are universally agreed upon—hitters admiring home runs is severely frowned on, as is arguing with one's manager in public view and being caught stealing signs. But other rules are less cut-and-dried. On the subject of retaliating for a teammate being hit by a pitch: some believe the pitcher should be plunked in his next at-bat, while others say it should be a player with corresponding talent to the hit batter. Turnbow has an example for nearly every conceivable situation, and with quotes from dozens of former major league players, managers, and broadcasters, the reader can better understand the actions that can set off even the most even-tempered ball player. It's a comprehensive, sometimes hilarious guide to perhaps a misunderstood aspect of our national pastime, and will come in handy should one ever be involved in a beanball war. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Turbow and Duca have filled a void with this entertaining, revealing survey of the varied, sometimes inscrutable unwritten rules that govern the way baseball is played by the pros. The authors add a lot of flavoring here by naming names and instances, both long past and more recent. Great stuff on how and when to retaliate, how to slide, how to give way to a relief pitcher, talking (or not) during a no-hitter, whether to join an on-field brawl (no question, you join in), and the ethics of cheating (former Orioles manager Earl Weaver once told struggling pitcher Ross Grimsley during a game: “If you know how to cheat, this would be a good time to start”). The authors—both write on baseball for various publications, and Duca is an official scorekeeper for major league baseball—lament a certain unraveling of baseball’s codes, due to changes in the game itself, while insisting that they’re still essentially intact. For committed fans who want to dig deeper. --Alan Moores --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Anchor (March 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030727862X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307278623
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Baseball

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Baseball's Self-Governing Tradition March 19, 2010

By Larry Underwood

Format:Hardcover

Professional baseball has a long tradition self-governing its participants to abide by some convoluted "Code" of behavior, which for the most part, is understood and followed; no questions asked. However, things can get out of hand rather quickly when opposing teams have a difference of opinion in interpreting that "Code"; that's when the fun begins.

Jason Turbow and Michel Duca have compiled an extensive array of "Code Violations" throughout baseball history, and how everything played out between the warring factions; often, peace never quite gets restored, and fueds fester for many bitter seasons. Usually, when some unwritten protocol viotation pops up, peace is eventually restored; quite often the offending party's own teammates dole out the prescribed corrective action, and the problem never rears its ugly head again.

For any fan of the game who finds this kind of stuff fascinating, this book is filled with enough anecdotes to entertain and amuse, from start to finish. It gives a wonderful perspective on what you'll never find in the boxscores; however, it's as much a part of the game as anything that goes into the official record books; and in many cases, its impact has shortened some careers, while adding a colorful piece of folklore for others.

It's the perfect book to get any fan of the game riled up for a new season. Now you know there's much more to the game than the hits, runs and errors taking place between the lines; there's much, much more.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great look behind the scenes March 30, 2010

By Dan Fost

Format:Hardcover

I have always loved to watch baseball, but I'm going to love it even more this season, thanks to the insight I've gained from reading this colorful, entertaining book. "The Baseball Codes" assembles a dizzying array of stories, from the recent past and from long ago, spelling out all the different unwritten rules of the game.

Like any reviewer, I can't help but share some of the delicious stories from this delectable book:

* Mike Krukow, throwing at brushback specialist Joaquin Andujar in 1984, and missing him -- twice -- only to rush the plate "in a rare instance of the reverse mound-charge." Krukow, incredibly, was not ejected, and considered one more attempt, but feared another miss. He instead struck Andujar out - and Andujar fell apart on the mound, securing a Giants win. "We exposed his macho," Krukow said. "It was great."

* Phil Garner, who emerges as one of my favorite characters, doesn't subscribe to the rule that you don't steal bases with a big lead. While I appreciate the gentlemanly sentiment behind this rule, I also view it as ridiculous - these guys are clearly not gentlemen (witness chapters on beanballs), and they are trying to win games. Why should they stop trying? "I'm not going to go home at night thinking I shut a ballgame down and let you guys back in it to win it," Garner told old-school Sparky Anderson.

* Nolan Ryan - who emerges as a real villain, in my opinion, for his head-hunting tactics - learned the "bow-tie" pitch from Satchel Paige, meaning the art of throwing a fastball right by a player's neck. He's lucky he never killed anybody. He'd throw at guys just because he was mad they bunted on him. He knocked down Lenny Dykstra in the 1986 NLCS, both for bunting and for what he saw as excessive cheering after a hit. (What I loved in that story: Dykstra got up and lined a single. They called him Nails for a reason.)

One of the most critical parts of the Code is that ballplayers never admit to the existence of the Code. (Sort of like Fight Club.) Fortunately for us, however, ballplayers talked to Turbow. And talked. And talked. And each story, in Turbow's relentless reporting, gave way to more stories, until the reader is left feeling like he's got a seat in the corner of a major league clubhouse.

49 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "NOBODY TOLD ME THEY CHANGED IT TO GIRLS' SOFTBALL BETWEEN THIRD & HOME" March 17, 2010

By Rick Shaq Goldstein

Format:Hardcover

Anyone who was raised with a love of baseball... when the grass was still real... when baseball was still truly America's pastime... and was governed by "THE UNWRITTEN RULES... or CODES" as much if not more than the actual written rules... will love this book. Anyone that was raised when much of the grass was ASTRO Turf... but was lucky enough to have a prior generation's lover of baseball teach them the way a professional really played AND RESPECTED this great game... will love this book. This is a true unveiling of what really went on between the lines... in the clubhouse... and away from the field. The great game of baseball had its own unwritten laws... and thus the players and managers were able to police themselves... when the official rule book didn't provide proper justice. When should one team throw a bean ball at the other to reciprocate for a hit batsman? Who should be hit by a retaliatory pitch... the offending pitcher?... the hitter who watched too long as his ball flew out of the park?... the hitter who "hot-dogged" around the bases?... the guy who slid too hard into a base?... the batter who took too long getting into the batter's box?... the batter who walked in front of the catcher?... the player who was stealing signals? The questions and situations are almost endless... and almost all of these questions are answered in this book. When there's a fight on the field which members of the team should join in?... Should any of the team not engage? What type of cheating is ok? Spitballs?... Scuffed balls?... Pine tar/Vaseline/slippery elm?... Corked bats?

How long should a *PAYBACK-GRUDGE* be carried and still be acted upon. In one such case fireball Hall of Famer Bob Gibson waited for fifteen years AFTER HIS RETIREMENT to hit a batter he felt he owed... in an old-timers game. Now don't get me wrong some of the "RULES" still exist today... but the author makes it clear that due to the enormous money in today's game... agents... and most players becoming more like "visitors" on a team as compared to lifetime veterans in the old days... the full book of rules are no longer enforced.
The author astutely points out major sections of the *CODE* such as when is it okay to steal... when is it okay to plow into the catcher... and of course if a "code/rule" is broken there... the resultant verdict leads to "bean-ball" retaliation rules. Interspersed with rules and historical proof are great quotes from players like Hall of Famer "BIG-D" Don Drysdale who said: "THE PITCHER HAS TO FIND OUT IF THE HITTER IS TIMID, AND IF HE IS TIMID, HE HAS TO REMIND THE HITTER HE'S TIMID." There is the sage wisdom that Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige passed on to future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan that would help shape Ryan's record breaking career: "ONE OF THE BEST PITCHES IS THE BOW-TIE PITCH." "Ryan had no idea what Paige was talking about. A bow-tie pitch, explained the ancient ballplayer, was "WHEN YOU THROW IT RIGHT HERE" - HE THEN MIMED A HORIZONTAL LINE ACROSS HIS ADAM'S APPLE, AS IF SLASHING HIS OWN THROAT- "WHERE THEY WEAR THEIR BOW TIE."

A true fan will be mesmerized when many of the great baseball fights are re-created including the game on August 12, 1984 between the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. SAN DIEGO INFIELDER KURT BEVACQUA LATER CALLED IT "the desert storm of baseball fights." "TOTAL DAMAGE: SIX BRUSH BACK PITCHES, THREE HIT BATTERS, FOUR BENCH-CLEARING INCIDENTS, TWO FULL-ON BRAWLS THAT NEARLY SPIRALED OUT OF CONTROL WHEN FANS RUSHED THE FIELD, NINETEEN EJECTIONS, FIVE ARRESTS, AND A NEARLY UNPRECEDENTED CLEARING OF THE BENCHES BY THE UMPIRES." Additionally one player out of uniform on the disabled list was sitting in the broadcasting booth... and he even wound up down on the field fighting.

There are also codes on how a pitcher being removed from the game by the manager should act. There is an absolutely hilarious transcription that covers parts of three pages (90-92) involving Dodger manager Tom Lasorda removing pitcher Doug Rau (Lasorda was miked) that has more four letter words than would be emitted by a drunken sailor who hit his finger with a hammer. The enjoyment derived from this book for any old school baseball fan is limitless. I'll just list the chapter descriptions and you will have an idea of the fun awaiting you here.

1) KNOW WHEN TO STEAL `EM 2) RUNNING INTO THE CATCHER 3) TAG APPROPRIATELY 4) INTIMIDATION 5) ON BEING INTIMIDATED 6) SLIDE INTO BASES PROPERLY 7) DON'T SHOW PLAYERS UP 8) RESPONDING TO RECORDS 9) GAMESMANSHIP 10) MOUND CONFERENCE ETIQUETTE 11) RETALIATION 12) THE WARS 13) HITTERS 14) OFF THE FIELD 15) SIGN STEALING 16) DON'T PEEK 17) SIGN STEALING (STADIUMS) 18) IF YOU'RE NOT CHEATING, YOU'RE NOT TRYING 19) CAUGHT BROWN-HANDED 20) DON'T TALK ABOUT A NO-HITTER IN PROGRESS 21) PROTECT YOURSELF AND EACH OTHER 22) EVERYBODY JOINS A FIGHT 23) THE CLUBHOUSE POLICE.