The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime

An insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, explained with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments.
 
Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. All aspects of baseball—hitting, pitching, and baserunning—are affected by the Code, a set of unwritten rules that governs the Major League game. Some of these rules are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), while others are known only to a minority of players (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box). In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining.
 
At the heart of this book are incredible and often hilarious stories involving national heroes (like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays) and notorious headhunters (like Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale) in a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see for the first time the game as it’s actually played, through the eyes of the players on the field.
 
With rollicking stories from the past and new perspectives on baseball’s informal rulebook, The Baseball Codes is a must for every fan.

• Baseball Field Guide: An In-Depth Illustrated Guide to the Complete Rules of Baseball
• Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
• The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond
• Incredible Baseball Stats: The Coolest, Strangest Stats and Facts in Baseball History
• 2018 Official Rules of Major League Baseball
• Baseball: Great Records, Weird Happenings, Odd Facts, Amazing Moments & Other Cool Stuff
• Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life in the Minor Leagues of Baseball (Anchor Sports)
• The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches
• The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
• Understanding Deviance: Connecting Classical and Contemporary Perspectives (Sociology Re-Wired)