BQB Plays Baseball: An Unwritten Rule in Baseball

I was listening to a podcast the other day discussing last month’s incident during a White Sox/Royals series that resulted in a bench-clearing brawl and an ejection. The discussion led me to open the discussion of the “unwritten” rules of baseball – and sports in general.

Let’s revisit the afore mentioned series.

Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller is on the mound. White Sox short stop Tim Anderson is at bat.

Keller throws a pitch that Anderson hits right out of the park. In typical home run fashion, Anderson flips his bat (completely acceptable in my opinion). To the Royals’ detriment, he doesn’t stop there. He then proceeds to whoop and holler, do a rain dance on home plate and throw his bat into the dugout. Now it’s a little much.

A couple innings later, Anderson is up to bat again, and sure enough, Keller beans him in the butt with a pitch. Seconds later, the benches clear, and thus begins one of the most entertaining moments in any baseball game: a brawl, complete with pushing, shoving and the managers yelling at each other.

One of the centuries-old unwritten rules of baseball is very clear: once a batter goes beyond a bat flip and starts showboating after a home run complete with whooping and hollering, dancing a jig on home plate. The batter and the fans should expect the pitcher to send a message next at bat.

I’m not condoning throwing a dangerous pitch to someone’s eye or vital organ. Just beaning a guy in the seat of his pants with a ball, to send the message that the pitcher and his team did not appreciate the showboating. Do not disrespect the pitcher and his team. It is my opinion that a pitcher reserves the right to bean you in the buttocks when you next take the plate after a braggart display such as Anderson’s. It is a well-known unwritten rule of baseball.

While the hosts of the podcast I listened to did not outwardly praise Tim Anderson for his excessive celebration, they heaped much more disapproval and disdain upon Brad Keller.

First off, the guest of the pod expressed how appalled he was of the bench clearing brawl because it’s not what he wants to see when he watches baseball.

Listen, I have talked to several baseball fans, people who have been watching baseball their whole lives and all of them have told me (including Old Dog), these incidents are an integral part of the fabric of the game. Not just baseball – but sports in general! How many football fans want to see a Tom Brady picked up and sacked to the ground?

The guest then added that you don’t see a batter running out to the pitcher’s mound to hit him with a bat if the pitcher was show boating.

Seriously though, so far, in my time listening to baseball, I have yet to see a pitcher show boat after striking a guy out. If he did then it should be expected of the batter to lightly chuck a bat at him in the pitcher’s general direction to send a message.

The last opinion the guest expressed was what he thought Brad Keller should have done: if Keller felt disrespected by Anderson’s display, he should have sent him a text after the game saying inviting him out for brunch or a coffee to discuss the situation.

So now the batter and the pitcher need to go out to dinner and talk about their feelings?

“Listen, I’m sorry I beaned you in the butt with a pitch, but your show boating made me really sad, and I just think that maybe we could go out to dinner, maybe order some mimosas and share a salad and talk about it. Do you like Panera Bread?”

This is not the Real Housewives. This is baseball.

Do you think George Brett went out to dinner with pitchers who beaned him to discuss how that made him feel?

No.

Old school batters will tell you, if you want to flip your bat once, that’s totally fine. But let’s just leave it there because there is an unwritten rule of baseball that a showboating batter should expect a pitcher to bean him next at bat.

Until next time.

What are your thoughts on the Keller/Anderson debacle? Comment below!

Blind Quarterback Plays Baseball - Week 7

Royals Round Up

I sat in my cave last Wednesday night, listening to the Astros blank the Royals with a final score of 9 to NOTHING, I had the following text message exchange with the Old Dog.

Old Dog: “Astros pitcher Peacock throwing some nasty stuff at the Royals. We are making Astros pitchers look like Cy Young winners as many times as we have struck out.”

BQB: “How can an offense look so explosive one night and then the very next night they hit nothing but air?”

Old Dog: “That’s baseball.”

Now let’s focus on that night where the offense exploded.

On Tuesday night, in the second of a 3 game series in Minute Made Park against the Houston Astros, Astros' pitcher Collin McHugh hurled a slider at Royals first baseman, Ryan O’Hearn that hung just a second to long above O’hearn’s knee, giving him just enough time to blast that baby with the head of his bat. With the bases loaded, O’Hearn hit a grand slam.

Listening during my ride home, I was unable to suppress an exalted “YEAH” from the back of my cab, earning me a quizzical look from my driver. A few innings later, Whit Merrifield added his own grand slam, the first of his career and the first time the Royals have had a game with multiple grand slams since 2004. At the time of the second grand slam, I was safely in my cave, where I was free to whoop and holler (as long as I didn’t wake my wife and daughter).

With bats a blaze, the Royals continued to trash the Astros. With Jose Soler’s one-run homer, Merrifield’s triple and a score off a double by Adalberto Mondesi and Hunter Dozier’s RBI triple gave the boys in blue a 12-2 routing of the current AL champs.

To compliment the flaming bats of the Royals, Danny Duffy only allowed 6 hits and 2 runs in six innings of work, logging his first win sense returning from injury.

Sadly, these firework displays seem to be few and far between for the Royals, for they would drop 2-3 of the Houston series, just to return home to drop 2-3 against Bryce Harper and the Phillies, meaning the Royals are still chasing their first series win since mid-April.

Up Next:

The Royals have the day off today, after which they will play host to the Texas Rangers, then fly to the west coast to meet up with Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels in LA.

The upcoming series is more than crucial. The Royals are last in their division. They are, in fact, the second worst team in baseball with a 14-27 record at the end of 41 games, only above the Miami Marlins at 10-29. Royals’ management states they are happy with their offense and the bullpen is improving, but these “improvements” have got to start making themselves evident, for the season is officially 1 quarter over.

King of tthe Hill:

Mike Fiers

On Tuesday, May 7, the Oakland A’s game that was delayed an hour and a half due to “lighting issues”. Starting pitcher, Mike Fiers threw a no hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. With a little help from his stellar defense stepping in every now and again to catch a ball that was about to land for a hit or to rob the Reds of a homer, Fiers accomplished 131 pitches and logged the first no hitter of this season and the second of Fiers career.

Take Me Out to the Ball Park:

Angels’ Stadium.

In 1996, Old Anaheim Stadium was renovated and reverted back to a “Baseball Only Facility” one of the few still left in the Major Leagues. Out in front of the stadium is the legendary “Big A” with the halo above it. Once inside the stadium, fans can look out over the fence and see the San Gabriel, Santa Anna Mountains and more. In the outfield is the “California Spectacular” in which geysers erupt and stream cascades of water down a mountain side covered in real trees and artificial rock behind left center field. With the arrival of Mike Trout, there is a special seating section dubbed “The Trout Farm” that is the official left field cheering section for Mike Trout.

Angels’ Stadium’s exterior has also been the filming location for several films including 1996’s thriller  “The Fan”  and the 1988 comedy and one of my personal favorites “The Naked Gun” where the stadium was used for exterior shots, while Dodgers’ Stadium was used for interior. Disney’s 1994 classic “Angels in the Outfield” was filmed partly in the stadium with some shots at Oakland’s stadium given that it was not a “Baseball Only Facility” during filming.

Angels’ Stadium ranks in the top 10 of “pitchers’ parks” as well as in the top 10 of fewest homers allowed. Nolan Ryan threw 2 of his 7 no hitters in the stadium. The Royals’ bats may have a hard time hitting the homers against the Angels in this ball park.

Ask the Old Dog:

With the season a fourth over and the Royals’ record being one of the worst in baseball, I asked the Old Dog what has to be done if we are to see a turnaround for the remainder of the season and how likely he thinks we shall see it.

“After 40 games the same problems seem to follow them - inconsistent starters and bullpen giving up too many late runs. Pitch counts are high. They have faced some tough pitching. In Saturday’s game Eflin completed nine innings for the Phillies with four hits and seven strike outs and no runs. He had one nasty slider. Offense has been scoring in some games only to have bullpen let another go. Let’s hope they can pull a string of victories together soon.”

Blind Quarterback Plays Baseball: Week 6

The fact of the matter is, baseball is played almost every day, and between work and my family, I may not catch each game in full but I am always keeping track. 

Royals Round Up

Nothing makes me happier than opening my MLB Schedules and Scores app and seeing the Royals are pummeling a hated divisional rival 15-2. On Saturday, during the second game of a 3 game series against the Detroit Tigers, the Royals showed just what offensive fire power the boys in blue can do. 19 hits, 15 runs, 10 walks and only 6 strike outs, Royals bats were doused in lighter fluid and set ablaze as they carved their way through the Tigers pitching staff. Kelvin Gutiérrez, who was traded to the Royals by the Washington Nationals in 2018, started the 2019 season in the Royals Triple A club, but was brought up to the show last week. Yesterday, he made sure the organization would never regret the trade, recording 4 hits and scoring twice. The flaming bats continued, as Alex Gordon racked up 3 hits, 1 homer and 5 RBIs.

The Tigers starting pitcher rotation is strong and their closers are lights out, but the glaring weakness of the Tigers was exposed on Saturday in their middle relievers are the proverbial underbelly of the Tigers pitching staff. Once the Royals were able to move past Tigers starting pitcher, the fireworks display began.

Unfortunately, despite flaming bats on Saturday, the Tigers still won the series, having beaten the Royals the night before on Friday, and beating them again on Sunday in the rubber match. A homer off the bat of Hunter Dozier forced the game into extra innings, but with 2 outs and 2 strikes, Tigers outfielder Brandon Dixon hit a walk off home run against Ian Kennedy.

Up Next:

The Royals travel to Minute Maid Park in Houston for a 3-game series against the Astros.

The Astros are returning home after a two game stint in Mexico against the LA Angels, where the Astros were victorious in both outings. The Royals however, have not won a series since sweeping the Indians at home in mid-April. 

Divisional match ups always matter, but without a series win in almost a month, at least one series win will be required for the Royals to look respectable. After Houston, they have a day off on Thursday and then face off against Bryce Harper and the Phillies at Kauffman Stadium in a 3 game series. 

The expectations for Harper are monumental, after he inked a $330 million contract during the off season, and has had a rather slow start for such a price tag. He is only hitting .233 with 6 homers and 25 walks. Harper can certainly be expected to turn it around, but at such a price tag, and with a rather auspicious start to the season, he will be the main story line every time he steps to the plate. Let’s hope that the Royals pitching staff will take advantage of his rough start. 

King of the Hill:

Stephen Strasburg.

Washington Nationals’ starter Stephen Strasburg is my first "King of the Hill". On Thursday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, Strasburg became the fastest pitcher to reach 1,500 strike outs. He did so with a 3.16 ERA and a rather nasty changeup that has proved very difficult for the opposing bats to make contact with.

On This Day in Baseball

On this day in baseball history, a young talent made his long-awaited debut in the big leagues for the Kansas City Royals. The Royals sold ten thousand walk-up tickets for Royals' rookie Eric Hosmer to make his major league debut at Kauffman Stadium. Hosmer was a 21 year old first baseman, who had received the largest signing bonus in franchise history. He was hitless in his two official at-bats in a 3-2 loss to the A's, but he is walked twice and steals a base. He quickly became a crucial piece of the Royals team that traveled to the World Series in 2014 and win it all in 2015

In 2011, the Royals farm system was ranked as one of the best in baseball, and that was mostly thanks to Hosmer and 3^rd basemen Mike “Moose” Moustakas,. Hosmer being ranked as the best first basemen prospect in the MLB heading into 2011. During the 2015 World Series run, Hosmer had a career year with a .297 batting average, 18 homers and 93 RBIs. On November 1^st, 2015, Hosmer scored the tying run in the 9^th inning, which lead to the Royals victory over the New York Mets in game five of the World Series.

Ask the Old Dog:

I put it to my good friend Tom to give me his opinion on an issue that seems to be sweeping the league: poor attendance. Last week, in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Royals had something around the figure of only 500 people make their way out to the K for the game. It is not just the Royals however, many other teams are experiencing a drop not only in attendance, but in views on television as well, and at the moment, baseball’s only competition is in the NBA playoffs. 

“The Royals had a makeup game that turned into a day-time double header. The first game only had a sparse crowd. Baseball is looking at attendance figures throughout the league. Ballparks are rehabbing stadiums to make the game experience more entertaining. MLB looking at things to speed up the game.

I think it’s competition for the sports dollar. MLB needs to get back to basics. Sell the game. Owners are faced with millennials that can only sit and watch two and half innings before they are bored and need to be entertained. That is why ballparks are rehabbing to provide that entertainment.

Royals have rehabbed all of their bars and expanded them. From the expansion of the Miller Lite bar to expanding Rivals and other locations. The Outfield Experience allows families with kids to run the bases at Little K or hitting areas. Not many people out there like me who watch the whole game, keep score and don’t leave their seat.”