Kurkjian: The unwritten canon in baseball, revealed
From SABR member Tim Kurkjian at ESPN.com on May 29, 2014:
Thirty-five years ago, Wayne Gross hit a home run off reliever Ed Farmer, and took his time running around the bases. Farmer was furious, and immediately plotted revenge. But he didn’t face Gross again until four years later, and by then they were teammates. On the first pitch of a batting practice session, Farmer hit Gross in the back with a 90 mph fastball.
“What was that for!” Gross screamed.
“That was for four years ago!” Farmer screamed back.
“OK,” Gross said. “We’re even!”
Welcome to the contentious, confusing, contradictory world of baseball’s unwritten rules. There are so many of them, and they’ve existed for over 100 years, that it’s hard to keep track of them, to process them.
Back in the 1960s, hard-throwing Stan Williams tracked them this way: He carried a list of names around in his cap.
“What are the names on the list?” Williams was asked.
“Those are the guys I have to get,” Williams said.
“Why do you keep them in your cap?” Williams was asked.
“So I don’t forget any of them,” Williams said.
Read the full article here: http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=10964445&src=desktop
Originally published: May 30, 2014. Last Updated: May 30, 2014.