Glanville: Baseball’s code of silence, hitters vs. pitchers, and why Mike Fiers was inevitable
From Doug Glanville at The Athletic on January 22, 2020:
Baseball players keep a lot of secrets.
But Mike Fiers was inevitable.
My former Phillies teammate Wayne Gomes once said to me, “If someone outside of our team asked me, I wouldn’t tell what kind of orange juice my teammate drinks.”
There is a code in baseball that somewhat resembles the blue line in law enforcement. The locker room is sacred; you do not reveal compromising information publicly about other players nor your organization. It does not think, it does not rationalize, it does not moralize. It just protects, sometimes to its own detriment.
If you happen to leave that organization, regardless of whether the team traded you or you left on your own, bitterly or not, you are still expected to keep the code enforced. You are still a baseball player first. And bringing down an organization can indict the entire sport. Tread lightly.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1548744/2020/01/22/glanville-baseballs-code-of-silence-hitters-vs-pitchers-and-why-mike-fiers-was-inevitable/
Originally published: January 23, 2020. Last Updated: January 23, 2020.