They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

[Afrikan]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

how about the unwritten rules for relief pitchers.....It's not as serious as the other ones....but I try to pay attention when they are facing each other in National League games...

so I believe the little agreement between relief pitchers is that when facing each other, they will only throw fastballs.......is that correct?.....no crazy fancy breaking stuff...which I think is hilarious.

but I've seen this broken a couple of times...usually in close games, I think.

[ill23matic]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

Tucson, getting ready for ST.

Tucson here as well, shame this is the last year we will have ST here..

Woody, you are entitled to your opinion, but teams that continue to maul opponents show no class, in any sport. If you are up 10-0 on a team late, you stop stealing, play station to station baseball and don't take the extra base. Ive been on both sides of the situation; if you got the bases loaded and get a single, you hold the runner on second to third base.. thats just the way it is and thats what separates classy teams/coaches/players/organizations from scum bags. In games like that, you are already tapping deep into your bullpen and coaches know what that is like and the negative effect it has for the rest of the series/the next few series. No, you dont purposely stop hitting, but the little things, the aggressive things, you tone back on that.

[Jdurg]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

All this. I remember back in '02, Schilling had a perfecto in the 8th when San Diego's Ben Davis bunted to break it up. There was nothing technically wrong with what he did, but it sure broke the unwritten rule. He wasn't much loved in AZ the rest of his career.

But in that case San Diego was only down by one or two runs, so I can actually see a good reason to bunt. In fact, if it wasn't a perfect game, Davis would have been lauded for a great play. I don't consider that instance "cheap" because the fielders should know the score of the game and understand that San Diego would be trying to get on base. With Schilling throwing a perfect game, it makes even more sense because he would not have had to have pitched from the stretch all game and that could result in him hanging a pitch in the middle of the plate.

Now if the game was 5-0 Arizona when that happened, then I would consider it cheap and poor sportsmanship as that one run is completely meaningless and him getting on base does not do anything. I've just always felt that someone doing something they normally wouldn't do in order to break up a perfect game or a no-hitter is "unsportsmanlike". So if somebody would try to bunt for a base hit when 99% of the time they would never do that, then I consider that cheap and his dentist better be on call after his next at-bat.

[countryboy]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

baseball is one of the few sports, if not the only one, where time doesn't run out on you, but rather you run out of opportunities. I don't see the difference in attempting to break up a no-no or perfecto by bunting in 9th as in the 3rd inning. If the guy has the speed to bunt for a basehit, then you have to respect that attribute in the last few outs as you do in first few outs.

Personally...I don't like the idea of unwritten rules. Its the defense's job to get the offense out and its the offense's job to get runs across the plate, and you can't do that without putting guys on base.

[BatsareBugs]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

All this. I remember back in '02, Schilling had a perfecto in the 8th when San Diego's Ben Davis bunted to break it up. There was nothing technically wrong with what he did, but it sure broke the unwritten rule. He wasn't much loved in AZ the rest of his career.

Ben Davis was hitting in front of Bubba Trammell in that game and with a 2-0 score and Bubba having the best season of his career (which really isn't that great of a season to begin with), he was the tying run.

Then again, that's the only thing Ben Davis ever accomplished in his career... so much for being a top prospect.

[Tovarich]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

Tucson here as well, shame this is the last year we will have ST here..

The funny thing about us not having ST any more down here is that all the teams in Phoenix whine about having to bus for 2 hours. Every game I went to last year, most of the starters just stayed back in Phoenix. I don't get the big deal when all the teams in Florida are faaaaar more spread out. It'll be convenient for them to all be in the same city, but the 2 hour bus ride is too much? Please

[ill23matic]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

The funny thing about us not having ST any more down here is that all the teams in Phoenix whine about having to bus for 2 hours. Every game I went to last year, most of the starters just stayed back in Phoenix. I don't get the big deal when all the teams in Florida are faaaaar more spread out. It'll be convenient for them to all be in the same city, but the 2 hour bus ride is too much? Please

Thats why teams are flocking to the Cactus league. Next year there will be 15 teams at most a 45 minute drive to maybe an hour from each other.

This has been a problem in Tucson for a while though. Superstars rarely came down unless they had to or really needed the at bats. U figure its a two and a half hour bus ride, doesnt sound like a lot, but when ur a spoiled big leaguer it is. In college taking a 4 hour busride to prescott, or a 7 hour busride to Yuma was taxing but at least we stayed in hotels the night before. Those big leaguers get on the bus at probably 7 or 8am, to make and have time to warm up for a 1pm game, and turn around and leave at 5 to get back at around 8pm to their home park.

If you think about that, its waking up at 6am and not getting home til probably 9pm.... a long day just to play 4 or 5 innings in a spring training game

[gubunko]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

Thats why teams are flocking to the Cactus league. Next year there will be 15 teams at most a 45 minute drive to maybe an hour from each other.

This has been a problem in Tucson for a while though. Superstars rarely came down unless they had to or really needed the at bats. U figure its a two and a half hour bus ride, doesnt sound like a lot, but when ur a spoiled big leaguer it is. In college taking a 4 hour busride to prescott, or a 7 hour busride to Yuma was taxing but at least we stayed in hotels the night before. Those big leaguers get on the bus at probably 7 or 8am, to make and have time to warm up for a 1pm game, and turn around and leave at 5 to get back at around 8pm to their home park.

If you think about that, its waking up at 6am and not getting home til probably 9pm.... a long day just to play 4 or 5 innings in a spring training game

It's also the lack of infrastructure. TEP is fine for two teams to play in; Hi Corbett is a great minor league park, but way too small for ST (especially parking). Another ST complex either downtown or in Marana, two or three coming down from either Phoenix or Florida and the D-backs would come back down and everything would be fine. Too many ifs though.

[gubunko]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

But in that case San Diego was only down by one or two runs, so I can actually see a good reason to bunt. In fact, if it wasn't a perfect game, Davis would have been lauded for a great play. I don't consider that instance "cheap" because the fielders should know the score of the game and understand that San Diego would be trying to get on base. With Schilling throwing a perfect game, it makes even more sense because he would not have had to have pitched from the stretch all game and that could result in him hanging a pitch in the middle of the plate.

Now if the game was 5-0 Arizona when that happened, then I would consider it cheap and poor sportsmanship as that one run is completely meaningless and him getting on base does not do anything. I've just always felt that someone doing something they normally wouldn't do in order to break up a perfect game or a no-hitter is "unsportsmanlike". So if somebody would try to bunt for a base hit when 99% of the time they would never do that, then I consider that cheap and his dentist better be on call after his next at-bat.

Very good points. Considering the score, Davis attempting to bunt was the right call in trying to get on and trying to produce a run. I think the uproar about using a bunt to break up a no-no or perfect game is that maybe there's a conception that a bunt's not a "real" hit. A shot up the middle or a home run, and no one complains; a bunt in the bottom of the eighth from the catcher seems to be a cheap way to get on, fair or not.

Then again, that's the only thing Ben Davis ever accomplished in his career... so much for being a top prospect.

Very true. He's one of those guys I'm always surprised that didn't work out in the bigs.

[Rexis]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

baseball is one of the few sports, if not the only one, where time doesn't run out on you, but rather you run out of opportunities. I don't see the difference in attempting to break up a no-no or perfecto by bunting in 9th as in the 3rd inning. If the guy has the speed to bunt for a basehit, then you have to respect that attribute in the last few outs as you do in first few outs.

Personally...I don't like the idea of unwritten rules. Its the defense's job to get the offense out and its the offense's job to get runs across the plate, and you can't do that without putting guys on base.

C/S

[wyrm187]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

Since when is that an unwritten rule?

like I said in my earlier post - i would suggest reading the book -The Code: Baseball's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct byBernstein (you'll never watch a game the same way after finishing it)- this has been an unwritten rule since the beginning of baseball. I prefer baseball to how it used to be played - now it's all about scoring runs .. .but players do still pay the price once in a while for showing someone up. someone mentioned above they didn't care for them, but in my opinion baseball has more than in other sport so I was just hoping to see them in this game since its aim is realism - some are in game as stated above

[moTIGS]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

It's funny the guy start a thread and never shows his face again.

Really? Why?

I've been registered here for nearly 7 years but have just over 100 posts. I posted this thread in June and it got a few replies, but I didn't really check in much after that.

I posted this initially just to share what I thought was a pretty cool thing the game had. You don't usually expect things like this to find their way into sports games. I didn't "show my face" because there wasn't a reason to. You're acting like I was attempting to flame or something...

I never bought '09. It was just a rental. No point in checking back on the board often when you don't even own the game. I did just see that '10 is coming out in two weeks, which somehow had slipped by me, so figured I'd see what people were saying about it. I was surprised to see this thread currently active. I figured it had died after a few responses.

[gubunko]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

i would suggest reading the book -The Code: Baseball's Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct byBernstein (you'll never watch a game the same way after finishing it)

Oh, this is definitely going on my to-get list.

http://www.amazon.com/Code-Baseballs.../dp/1600780105

[sandu8]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

If you break up a no hitter like that, the next guy is getting hit. HARD

This is one of the unwritten rules that is just dumb. Bunting is part of the game, so why can't someone try to bunt for a hit. Thats like saying if you have a perfect game going then the other team just shouldn't hit anymore because they might break it up. If you are going to cry about a guy trying to bunt for a hit on a losing team, maybe you should stop crying and work on your bunt defense.

What makes a no hitter or perfect game so special is that a guy has to earn it.

[bp4baseball]

Re: They obviously didn't include the unwritten rules in this game...

Oh, this is definitely going on my to-get list.

http://www.amazon.com/Code-Baseballs.../dp/1600780105

yeah, I saw this at the store the other week. Definitly caught my attention and I want to go back and get it