Those are just a few of the several positive and exciting aspects of America's game.
However, unwritten rules and the "Code" have entered the spotlight more and more over the last few years. Players will tell you that you have to have played the game to understand what exactly makes up that "code," how it's followed, and how it's enforced.
I didn't play baseball above the Little League level, but an official major league at-bat isn't necessary to figure this out. In the last three days, two separate incidents have sparked this debate once again.
Cole Hamels threw at 19-year-old phenom Bryce Harper Sunday, who was playing in just his eighth game as a big leaguer. Harper was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft and has been hyped-up ever since. In his first AB of the game, Harper got drilled with a fastball right in the middle of the back.
After the game, Hamels acknowledged that the pitch was intentional.
"I was trying to hit him," the two-time All Star said. "I'm not going to deny it. I'm not trying to injure the guy. They're probably not going to like me for it, but I'm not going to say I wasn't trying to do it. I think they understood the message, and they threw it right back. That's the way, and I respect it.
Hamels added that this was his old-school way of "welcoming" Harper to the big leagues.
I don't know about you, but when I think of "old-school" baseball, I think of guys like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Hank Aaron. Guys who were about one thing and one thing only: playing the game the way it was meant to be played, which doesn't include dishing out bean-balls for no apparent or logical reason.
Unfortunately, simply "playing the game" isn't what we see anymore. The pettiness and childishness of all these unwritten rules has got to stop.
Atlanta's Jason Heyward smacked a solo homer over the ivy at Wrigley Field (his fourth HR in 24 ABs at Wrigley) last night off of starter Jeff Samardzija in the second inning. When the Braves right fielder came to the plate in the seventh, Samardzija did his best Cole Hamels impression and drilled him right in the center of the "22" on his back.
It's a practice that is becoming more and more common. If you hit a home run, good for you. Unfortunately, you'll pay for it later on, but maybe not right away so it's not totally obvious to the umpires.
But in this era of baseball, there must be some sort of retaliation in the next half-inning. Atlanta reliever Eric O' Flaherty plunked David DeJesus to lead-off the bottom of the seventh in a 2-1 game. DeJesus would eventually come around to score and stretch the lead to 3-1 in the late innings.
Not only is the "payback" unnecessary and pointless, but now it's hurting teams' chances of winning a ballgame, which is what I thought the point of playing baseball was. It's unfortunate that so many players seem to have forgotten that.
Some will say that all of this is just a part of the sport's culture. It should be noted that racism, recreational drugs, and steroids were all a part of the game's culture at certain points in time. People didn't seem to have too much of a problem when those issues were done away with, so why would this one be any different.
Ratings and attendance are down across the board in baseball. The best athletes in America don't play baseball anymore, they play football or basketball. Bud Selig and his cronies might want to start paying attention and start getting junk like this out of the game.
I'm starting an internship in a week. I certainly hope that none of the experienced vets at ESPN Milwaukee "welcome" me by chucking a stapler at my forehead.
