The Hypocrisy of Unwritten Rules

In light of the recent Fernando Tatis Jr. incident against the Rangers, I thought it to be fitting to vent my frustrations here. For those unaware of what transpired Monday the 17th of August here’s a quick recap. 

In the 8th inning of that Rangers Padres game, the score was a whopping 10-3 in San Diego’s favor. Young stud Fernado Tatis Jr. came to the plate, already with a home run and three rbi’s, with the bases loaded. The count would eventually reach 3-0 when Tatis Jr. would mistakenly miss a sign from his third base coach telling him to take the next pitch. That next pitch would end up being 407 feet into right-center field bleachers. With the score now 14-3 Padres only Tatis Jr. and his teammates were celebrating a two homerun seven rbi night for the 21-year-old. Padres GM A.J. Preller, who worked ten years in the Rangers organization, seemingly had words for Tatis Jr. as he walked back to the dugout, head coach Jayce Tingler, who also worked for Rangers for eight years, looked as if he was attending a funeral after the home run, and Texas skipper Chris Woodward was fuming on the mound while he talked to his pitcher Ian Gibaut, who promptly threw a 93 mph fastball at the next batter Manny Machado on his first pitch. 

After the game, Woodward whined to the media “I didn’t like it, personally. You’re up by seven in the eighth inning; it’s typically not a good time to swing 3-0. It’s kind of the way we were all raised in the game. But, as I said, the norms are being challenged on a daily basis, so — just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not right.” 

In that post-game statement, Woodward uncorked the messy can of worms known as baseball’s unwritten rules into the spotlight. A classic excuse for the sore losers and those that refuse to allow the game to change. So it is ever so fitting to investigate baseball’s last true saint of the game Woodward himself for reference on how to honor the game and those who play it. 

A quick flashback to a simpler time with no pandemic, 2019. On May 16th of that year, Woodward’s Rangers demolished the Royals in a 16-1. In the last six innings of that game, the Rangers just kept scoring. Up 12-1 in the top of the 9th inning, Hunter Pence hits a leadoff solo home run and Rougned Odor would tag two-run home run onto the Rangers ever-increasing fifteen run lead. To many of those savvy in the laws of the unwritten rules, this is seen as running up the score. Strike one to Woodward. 

What about at the end of that 2019 season with Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor one strikeout away from 200 strikeouts on the year, a feat that Minor had never achieved in his career. In the 9th inning of Minor’s last chance to reach 200 first baseman Ronald Guzmán lets an easy foul ball drop at his feet so Minor could have another shot at a strikeout. The drop would be celebrated by Rangers players and coaches alike in the dugout. Minor would indeed capitalize on Guzmán’s intentional drop with his 200th strikeout later in that inning. Many at the time questioned the validity of Minor’s 200th due to that drop and the unwritten rules morals of that Rangers team and their head coach Chris Woodward. Strike two to Woodward.

If Woodward’s actions as a head coach weren’t enough evidence of the pure hypocrisy that he displays how about an example from his playing days. Back in 2004 then Blue Jay’s shortstop Chris Woodward came to the plate with a 9-2 lead against the Baltimore Orioles. On a 1-2 count, Woodward did not take a pitch or hit to contact to end the inning, no baseball’s unwritten rules Pope hit his very own grand slam while his team was already up by seven runs late in the game. The only difference between that home run and Tatis Jr.’s home run was the pitch count that each player had. If Tatis Jr. is not allowed to swing at that meatball of a pitch then why is it okay for Woodward to swing at that 1-2 pitch. The unwritten rules frown on many actions, hypocrisy is not excusable. That is Woodward’s third and final strike. 

As we can see the unwritten rules of baseball do not waver for anyone. Even those who criticize others for breaking the rules have committed their own, sometimes identical, infractions. With the evolution of the game, we can only hope that the unwritten rules evolve with it. Baseball cannot move forward successfully if there are players, managers, and organizations that continue to uphold these outdated rules. There shouldn’t have to apologize for those shattered egos that lost. Instead of focusing on how the other team wronged you by the way they hit a home run, flipped a bat, celebrated a win, etc. focus on how you can come back stronger than them. The path to success is not complaining and doing nothing, it’s bettering yourself for the future. 

Hey, thank you for reading my thoughts on this unwritten rules drama. I’ve been feeling better and better about my writing there should be more articles to come soon. I hope y’all have a great rest of your day!

-Joe