The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca
In baseball, as in life, there are the written rules and the unwritten rules. In major league baseball the unwritten rules are known as “the code.”
While I’d heard of “the code,” it’s even more complicated than I realized.
This week I finished reading The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca.
As a lifelong baseball fan I found it valuable to understand how the game of baseball is actually played by major league players.
Winning Runs – Coaching Problem Players
Jim Thome signed with the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies this off season. I felt sad. When he played with my local team, the Minnesota Twins, he was my favorite player.
Why? Let me explain.
When Thome signed with the Twins before the 2010 season, the phone of (then) Twins general manager Bill Smith rang.
Smith recalled, “I got a call from someone with Philadelphia, telling me what a great guy we were getting…And then I got calls from the White Sox. And the Dodgers, even though he hadn’t been there a long time. And from Cleveland. They’d all say the same thing, about what a good guy he is.” 1
