A review by suziqoregon
The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-clearing Brawls : the Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Michael Duca, Jason Turbow

3.0

3.5 Stars
This was fun and interesting and you don't have to be a rabid baseball fan to understand or enjoy it. I'm a casual baseball fan at best and I liked this book. It was good to read the stories about some of the players who's names I knew.

Some of the 'unwritten' rules were things I already knew about but others were rather obscure. The authors interviewed many players and had many stories to tell. Some were funny. In the chapter about cheating and stealing signs this one made me laugh out loud.

If the warning works, there's rarely reason to escalate things. Some pitchers, however, like to ensure that their message has been received. In 1993, when Blue Jays pitcher Jack Morris was clued in to the sign-tipping efforts of a baserunner at second, he spun on his heel, walked toward his opponent, and, pointing toward the plate, said, "I'm throwing a fastball and it's going at him. Make sure you tell him that." Then he delivered the pitch, as promised, knocking the hitter down. At that point, Morris made a second trip toward the runner. "Did you tell him?" he yelled. "Did you?"

I liked this one and I'm keeping it out from the library so The Hubster can read it.