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

[major major]

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

Exactly! You can't just take away a certain aspect of the offense just because you're throwing a perfect game or a no-no. It is the hitters job to get on base anyway he can.

This is where the unwritten rules start to apply and situations become gray. If you are down by many runs, lets say 6 or more in the 9th. Do you bunt to start a rally or do you try and earn a hit by hitting away? Many in and around the game, look at bunting in this situation as weak sauce (that's how i see it) and poor sportsmanship. Not trying to argue, but this is the way it is.

[countryboy]

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

So let me ask you something - if you were up 25-0 in the ninth inning and had a no hitter going - would you be ok that a guy tries to get a cheap hit off you with a bunt? Because really what other intention can he have at that point?

Would I be ok? Probably not and I'd probably tackle the guy before he got to first base.

[major major]

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

Would I be ok? Probably not and I'd probably tackle the guy before he got to first base.

Nice!

[wyrm187]

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

Would I be ok? Probably not and I'd probably tackle the guy before he got to first base.

well there you go -your magic # is maybe higher than mine is, everybody's can be different -

[Clarityman]

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

I must be the only one to agree with the OP. The fact is, most managers wouldn't call for a bunt to break up the no-hitter because it IS considered unsportsmanlike in real life. It especially wouldn't happen in the 9th inning, maybe in the 7th, but definitely not at the very end of the game.

Do you know how much heat the opposing manager would take? Probably even from his own team!? Yowza!

[ill23matic]

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

LOL. It's a good thing a lot of you dont play baseball/arent playing anymore. There would be a lot of high hard ones (nh).

I was unaware of that book, ill have to give it a read.

I guess at the end of the day, some of us are purists and some aren't. Part of being a purist, is respecting the "unwritten rules" the baseball forefathers set before us. If you dont respect those, I dont see how you can call yourself a purist. Again, some may not make sense, but there are a lot of laws that dont make sense to us in the real world, you either follow them or suffer the consequences. In this case consequences are getting plunked or losing respect by peers and fans.

At any rate, give me a great ballplayer that plays it his way, and a great ballplayer that plays the game the right way, and I will take the latter every time. Its a shame this younger generation of fans has not been exposed to these rules and/or chooses to ignore them. I remember being appauled for being thrown out of a little league game for colliding with a catcher who was standing on the plate without the ball. I remember getting a warning in pony league for spiking a 2nd baseman breaking up a double play (was still below the knee and I was within arms reach of the bag when i slid). I played the game the way my father and grandfather taught me. If I didnt like the way a hitter looked at me or if i felt he had shown me up, he was getting hit next at bat. You cant do that anymore without an ump stepping in and warning both teams, and heaven forbid you miss your spot inside and hit somebody after the warning, you will be tossed, which takes away the whole inside half. Baseball, like most other sports, is being made into P (fill in the blanks) ball

[nmycon]

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

I remember being appauled for being thrown out of a little league game for colliding with a catcher who was standing on the plate without the ball.

that is pretty unsportsmanlike in house league baseball...

i mean, you can push him out of the way, push him down, but running at him full speed... it's not right at that level of play

seems to me you did it just to make the point that "the official rules of baseball" say it can be done

[ill23matic]

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

Head hunting is cheap and dirty as well. Go for a knee, painfull and sends a message u still have full control of ur self and the game.

Don Drysdale would beg to differ

I agree though, a pitcher should not intentionally throw to hit someones head. I think it is not moral to try to throw and hit someone in the head on purpose. I do, however, feel that a pitcher as a right to throw over/around a head, the old brushback. If you unintentionally hit someone in the helmet, hey, thats part of the game. Been going on for ages, and more so when they didnt wear helmets.

Thats the problem with today though. Hitters are protected and allowed to dig in. If a guy comes up and stands close to the plate, you should be allowed to throw under his chin and get that outside corner back. Most pitchers are scared to throw inside in fear of getting tossed, and you got these 230 pound gorillas that will turn and lean into pitches if you miss inside a few inches, with elbow pads and wrist pads and all that other crap. As a result, hitting numbers are inflated and ERA's are up.

[ill23matic]

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

that is pretty unsportsmanlike in house league baseball...

i mean, you can push him out of the way, push him down, but running at him full speed... it's not right at that level of play

seems to me you did it just to make the point that "the official rules of baseball" say it can be done

No, I did it to teach a lesson. Id put money on it being the last time he stood on homeplate without the ball. He's putting himself, and myself at risk for injury by covering the plate. I shouldnt have to slide by him and try to reach for an uncovered inch of the plate and risk a broken finger. I shouldnt have to slow down and risk the ball beating me there to gently push him out of the way. Hes a catcher, he had padding, I didnt, so if you are going to wear all that gear and stand on the plate, u get barrelled over if you are 12, or 25

[major major]

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

Don Drysdale would beg to differ

I agree though, a pitcher should not intentionally throw to hit someones head. I think it is not moral to try to throw and hit someone in the head on purpose. I do, however, feel that a pitcher as a right to throw over/around a head, the old brushback. If you unintentionally hit someone in the helmet, hey, thats part of the game. Been going on for ages, and more so when they didnt wear helmets.

Thats the problem with today though. Hitters are protected and allowed to dig in. If a guy comes up and stands close to the plate, you should be allowed to throw under his chin and get that outside corner back. Most pitchers are scared to throw inside in fear of getting tossed, and you got these 230 pound gorillas that will turn and lean into pitches if you miss inside a few inches. As a result, hitting numbers are inflated and ERA's are up.

I usually lead off and typically the first pitch I see is chin and in. I understand and have no problem with it. Play Ball!

[Jdurg]

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

Exactly! You can't just take away a certain aspect of the offense just because you're throwing a perfect game or a no-no. It is the hitters job to get on base anyway he can.

So you have no problem if the batter yells "I GOT IT" as the fielders are trying to decide who is going to catch the ball?

Listen. I have no problem with someone using a bunt to break up a perfect game or a no-hitter if the use of the bunt is a part of his normal arsenal, and if him getting on base brings the tying run to the plate or the on-deck circle. That's called sportsmanship.

When a team is down by 5 runs in the 8th inning and their power guy is up to the plate and he drops down a bunt for the sole reason of breaking up a no-hitter (and he never would bunt under any normal circumstance), then I think that's a dirty play. Dirty because the guy would NEVER, EVER bunt to try and get a hit. He only did it here because he didn't want to be no-hit. That sounds more like a crybaby decision than the pitcher getting pissed about it which he would have a right to do.

[BKBond007]

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

That sounds more like a crybaby decision than the pitcher getting pissed about it which he would have a right to do.

I am all for the unwritten rules..I like that stuff..but just for the sake of this board..if youre down 3-0 and got a no hitter going..I might bunt to completely mess up the pitcher..lol I think a bunt might effect him more than a solo homerun..get the retaliation and you should have 2 guys on...lol
Hate to see what would happen the next time though

[countryboy]

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

LOL. It's a good thing a lot of you dont play baseball/arent playing anymore. There would be a lot of high hard ones (nh).

I was unaware of that book, ill have to give it a read.

I guess at the end of the day, some of us are purists and some aren't. Part of being a purist, is respecting the "unwritten rules" the baseball forefathers set before us. If you dont respect those, I dont see how you can call yourself a purist.

there's nothing wrong with respecting the "unwritten rules" of baseball, but the problem, for me at least, lies when the "unwritten rules" are obeyed to the point where they get in the way of the respect for the game.

A 2-0 game in the 9th and a leadoff man with speed bunting shouldn't be considered a cheap tactic. Neither should anyone bunting for that matter in that situation.

Imo, you're disrespecting the game itself, when you compromise the way its played just so one player can obtain an individual achievement.

[gubunko]

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

there's nothing wrong with respecting the "unwritten rules" of baseball, but the problem, for me at least, lies when the "unwritten rules" are obeyed to the point where they get in the way of the respect for the game.

A 2-0 game in the 9th and a leadoff man with speed bunting shouldn't be considered a cheap tactic. Neither should anyone bunting for that matter in that situation.

Imo, you're disrespecting the game itself, when you compromise the way its played just so one player can obtain an individual achievement.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I would agree with you that the unwritten rules shouldn't get in the way of respect for the game. However, I think that a leadoff hitter using a bunt to get on would be okay. The bunt would already be part of his arsenal and it wouldn't be out of place for him to put one down. A scrub catcher batting 8th trying to bunt when he never has before? That seems to be where the problem lies.

[Jdurg]

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

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I would agree with you that the unwritten rules shouldn't get in the way of respect for the game. However, I think that a leadoff hitter using a bunt to get on would be okay. The bunt would already be part of his arsenal and it wouldn't be out of place for him to put one down. A scrub catcher batting 8th trying to bunt when he never has before? That seems to be where the problem lies.

That's my thought exactly! If it's a 2-0 game and Brett Gardner is up to the plate in the 9th inning being no-hit by Josh Beckett and he decides to lay down a bunt to bring the tying run up to the plate, that isn't "cheap" or "unsportsmanlike". Bunting to get on is a part of his game and as a speed guy it's an expected part of his arsenal.

Turn it around so that Boston is up 8-0 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a perfect game going by Josh Beckett, if Jorge Posada decides to lay down a bunt I would be all for Posada being drilled HARD each and every time he comes up to bat. With the team down 8-0 and Posada never using a bunt as a method of getting on base, the ONLY reason he would be bunting there would be to break up a perfect game and nothing else. There is no intent to win the game there, and as a result, I find that to be very cheap and very dirty.