Baseball's Unwritten Rule: Is There A Solution?

There are several unwritten rules in the sport of baseball, some of which are simple, silly and fun. While others may end in a player getting hit in the side of the head with a 100 MPH fastball. But as baseball rolls out a new initiative to “let the kids play,” the question arises, how do you enforce the unwritten rules while still allowing the kids to play?

For decades, the unwritten rules of baseball have clear to all who follow the sport. Celebrate a home run excessively, get hit in the head with a pitch the next time you step into the batter's box. But as Major League Baseball tries to grow the sport’s popularity in a time when highlights from other sports dominate the headlines and command views on Twitter, can the unwritten rules coexist with baseball’s effort to gain popularity? As with every story, there are multiple sides that should be viewed in order to understand the complete picture.

The Pitchers

Pitchers have one of the toughest jobs in sports. To go out and throw pitch after pitch within a small strike zone, reaching speeds of well over 80 MPH, to some of the worlds best hitters can be a daunting task. Miss a throw by mere inches could end in a loss for their team. So understandably they can get frustrated when an opposing hitter launches a ball over the outfield wall, they can take it personally. But that is not the issue.

The Hitters

Hitters also face a daunting task on a nightly basis. Standing in a small area while baseballs wiz past your face at upwards of 100 MPH can make even the bravest people feel uncomfortable. So naturally, when you make contact with the baseball and it results in some runs for your team, you’re going to feel elated and want to celebrate. But that is not the issue.

The issue is that these are ultra-competitive athletes that care about their performance on the baseball field. Pitchers have one job, get the out. Hitters have one job, don’t get out. Thus, pitchers and hitters will always be at odds. What leads to the breaking of baseball’s unwritten rule is when a hitter takes his celebration to the next level.

There’s been a lot of examples of hitters celebrating an impressive home run throughout baseball. The most famous example in recent memory is during a playoff match-up between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers in which Jose Bautista celebrated a clutch home run with quite the bat flip.

What makes the recent amount of bat flips and subsequent retaliations an issue now, after years and years of the same behavior, is baseball’s recent push to improve the watch ability of the sport and its popularity. It’s no secret that social media drives what is popular in today's world and lets face it baseball fans, strikeouts and sac-flies don’t exactly get people out of their seats at home. What does are home runs.

So it’s in baseball’s best interests to have as many impressive home runs as possible. But again, there’s the issue of the unwritten rules of baseball.

The cause for discussion about this topic is a result of a recent incident between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox in which a fight broke out as a result of a rather emphatic bat toss following a home run by Chicago’s Tim Anderson. Here’s the catch, the bat flip followed a rather meaningless home run (Kansas City won the game) in a rather meaningless game (neither the Royals or White Sox are any good and a game in early April will have no impact on how either team finishes the season).

So the conundrum is as follows. Pitchers don’t want hitters excessively celebrating meaningless home runs, and there’s the notion of ‘act like you’ve been there before’ that accompanies any celebration. Hitters don’t want to get hit by a pitch but they still want to celebrate any time they do something good, a common practice at any sporting event. And baseball wants young viewers to watch their sport. Is there a solution that will suffice for every party involved?

In my mind, there is one solution. Don’t change a thing.

Baseball’s best option is to continue as is and not to change a thing. If hitters want to celebrate with bat flips then let them, just know that if they do, there is a realistic chance that they will be thrown at the next time they step into the batter’s box. And if you work in the offices of Major League Baseball then why not promote bat flips, retaliation by pitchers and ensuing brawls. The only thing that commands views more so than a 500 foot home run is drama on the baseball field. Bat flips that lead to batters being hit that leads to a fight between the teams are dramatic and fans would love to watch a three-minute recap of a fight on Twitter.

While this solution won't do much to go along with baseball's “let the kids play” initiative, it's the best solution, or lack of solution, for baseball.