Baseball's "Unwritten Rules"

On the date of the trade deadline, the Angels and Tigers butted heads in Detroit. Detroit slugger Magglio Ordonez stood at home plate for a moment as his third-inning home run sailed over the wall down the left-field line. He also trotted around the bases fairly slowly.

Later, Ordonez explained himself, saying that he wanted to make sure the ball was fair. When circling the bases, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver barked at him, telling him to speed it up. In response, Ordonez said to the angry ace, "...I told him that I'm old - that's as fast as I can run."

In a later at-bat, Magglio flied out and ran back to the dugout, nearing the pitcher's mound. He and Weaver exchanged words.

Later in the game, Carlos Guillen took a 3-2 offering from Weaver and sent it into the right-field bleachers, making it a 3-0 Tigers advantage. Carlos let it be known that he had scored one for his team (in more than one way) by showboating...excessively. He stood at home, staring at his majestic shot, then turned his attention at Weaver; dancing down the first-base line and yelling God-knows-what at him. Knowing he would be ejected, Weaver threw the next pitch at the head of All-Star catcher Alex Avila.

Almost a sideshow, Tigers ace Justin Verlander had a no-no going into the eighth. Leading off the inning, Angels speedster Erick Aybar, figuring that nothing else was working, tried to start a rally by laying down a bunt. Verlander threw the ball away as Aybar moved to second, where the Tigers righty had a few words to say. He later scored on a botched rundown, and a Maicer Izturis ribbie single broke up the no-hit bid and brought the score to within one.

Now, we have a lot of flirting with "baseball's unwritten rules" going on here. Between the showboating of Guillen (Ordonez seemed to just be at the wrong place at the wrong time...his situation will be overlooked), the headhunting by Weaver, and the bunting of Aybar, this was a fiery game.

Now, I am alright with a little swag and a little showboat. A hop, a fistpump, a slow walk for the first few feet of the 360-foot journey around the basepaths, that's all in the heat of the competition. What Guillen did was absolutely inordinate. His standing, hopping and hollering puts Manny's "throw my hands up in the air and admire" act to shame. This shows absolutely no respect for the game or the opposition. For that, this defenitely doesn't pass my "unwritten test."

Weaver wanted to teach Detroit a lesson in return, but he may have missed the target on that one. Sure, hitting a batter is part of the game, but going for the head is a sin in baseball. This doesn't need any more examination. So far, both teams are failing my test.

To me, Aybar's situation is the stickiest. On one hand, you're messing with history by squaring to bunt. On the other, winning the game is most important. I understand Verlander's pitcher-biased standpoint as it being "bush league", but it IS still baseball. The Angels, frankly, don't give a shoot about the no-hitter and want to just win the damn game! Aybar wasn't wrong here...he was genius. Aybar has passed Mr. Terilli's class of Unwritten Rules 101.

I will say one thing about this crazy game: While it may have been messy, it was entertaining as hell!

In the comments section, please leave more "unwritten baseball rules." Plus, explain whether you think they should be followed or not.

Peace Out!