It Seems There Is No One Set Of ‘Unwritten Rules’ In Baseball

Bobby Valentine, who managed three different major league teams during his career and guided the 2000 New York Mets to the “Subway” World Series against the Yankees, joked Tuesday that during his many years in the dugout “the other team usually had the comfortable lead.”

But even when that was the case, and the opposing batters continued to tack on runs in a lopsided game, Valentine said he “never batted an eye.”

“It happened,” said Valentine.

The former manager was puzzled then, why Fernando Tatis Jr., the San Diego Padres young star slugger, was criticized after Monday night’s game against the Texas Rangers, when Tatis swung on a 3-0 pitch in the top of the eighth inning and belted a grand slam to put the Padres up 14-3. Tatis, 21, had already hit a three-run home run earlier in the game. Both the Rangers manager, Chris Woodward, and Tatis’ manager, Jayce Tingler, were critical of Tatis’ decision to swing instead of take the pitch. 

In the fallout, the social media and sports talk radio banter centered on the phrase, “the unwritten rules of baseball.” Valentine had a good laugh at that term.

“The written rule is don’t go 3-0, especially with a good hitter,” said Valentine. “That’s the rule you’re supposed to be playing by. I never understood why anyone should be penalized because the other guy stinks.”

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, who hit three home runs for the Yankees in the 1977 World Series Game 6 clincher — he drilled all three on the first pitch and against three different Dodgers pitchers — tweeted his approval of Tatis’ performance Monday night at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.

“Fernando Tatis keep playing hard and playing great,” Jackson wrote, “it’s a pleasure to watch you play, love your success and the Padres rise to be a winner. Keep leading the way. It ain’t easy to hit Hrs. Keep bringing energy you have to the game, we need players like you. An All Star.”

Johnny Damon, 46, played for both sides of the Yankees-Red Sox ancient rivalry and last played in the majors in 2012 for the Cleveland Indians. Damon said that although in his era players were taught or instructed to take a pitch when it was a 3-0 count and your team had a seven-run lead, it wasn’t a philosophy he necessarily liked. 

That was the scenario Tatis was in when he came to bat against Texas relief pitcher Juan Nicasio Monday night, with one out and the bases loaded and the Padres already leading 10-3. After Nicasio threw three straight balls, Tatis swatted an opposite-field grand slam, the first of his career. 

“I know a lot has changed. I see that (Tatis) has said that he will learn from it, but we also know what happens very quickly in the game of baseball,” said Damon. “Seven runs, say at Fenway Park, can be easy.”

Former Mets and Yankees pitcher Dwight “Doc” Gooden said he sided with Tatis, too.

“Don’t get in that situation,” said Gooden. But the 1985 Cy Young Award winner also said that the game has changed a great deal since his pitching days, although the coronavirus pandemic forced new rules changes this baseball season and games are played to empty stadiums. 

“Pitchers don’t get to pitch inside anymore,” said Gooden, 55. “In the ‘80s it was different. Guys would know not to do that. Now the way the game’s changed so much, it’s all about hitting home runs and striking guys out. There’s no more fundamental baseball.”

Gooden said unwritten rules existed when he played, but that in his era there was also much more appreciation for the baseball fundamentals, the little things that won and that still win games.

“Yeah, there were a lot of unwritten rules, certain situations where you don’t steal bases, where you’re not swinging on 3-0,” said Gooden. “I don’t really think the players are taught the history of the game, the fundamentals. Those things don’t matter anymore — moving guys over, hit and run, stuff like that.” 

Valentine, 70, said that when he was playing on the Dodgers in the early 1970s, his teammate Maury Wills was near the end of his playing career but still relished the chance to steal a base when he had the opportunity. Wills once stole 104 bases during a season (1962).

“I played with Maury Wills. The stolen base was his trophy. His accumulation of stolen bases was what made him what he was,” said Valentine. “When he got on base, if the team had a lead, and he couldn’t do what made him Maury Wills? I just couldn’t understand it. Sometimes (Dodgers teammate) Willie Davis would get hit. Or I would get hit if I batted second. I was like, ‘I don’t get that you guys.’”

That’s why Valentine thinks the backlash against Tatis is unwarranted. Let the kid swing, Valentine says, and quit whining if he hits the long ball.

“Tatis sure is a great player,” said Valentine. “To just (complain) that he’s doing something wrong, as good as he is, I shudder at that thought.”