Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. What truly governs the Major League game is a set of unwritten rules-some of which are openly discussed, and some of which only a minority of players are aware. 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 The Baseball Codes are incredible and often hilarious stories. Tales involving national heroes and notorious headhunters-Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson, and Don Drysdale, to name a few- reveal a century-long series of confrontations over respect, honor, and the soul of the game. With The Baseball Codes, we see the game as it is 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, this collection of unwritten rules is a must for every baseball fan. Introduction
PART ONE: ON THE FIELD: 1: Know When to Steal 'Em
2: Running into the Catcher
3: Tag Appropriately
4: Intimidation
5: On Being Intimidated
6: Slide into Bases Properly
7: Don't Show Players Up
8: Responding to Records
9: Gamesmanship
10: Mound Conference Etiquette
PART TWO: RETALIATION: 11: Retaliation
12: The Wars
13: Hitters
14: Off the Field
PART THREE: CHEATING: 15: Sign Stealing
16: Don't Peek
17: Sign Stealing (Stadiums)
18: If You're Not Cheating, You're Not Trying
19: Caught Brown-Handed
PART FOUR: TEAMMATES: 20: Don't Talk About a No-Hitter in Progress
21: Protect Yourself and Each Other
22: Everybody Joins a Fight
23: The Clubhouse Police
Conclusion
"Delicious…Entertaining…The Baseball Codes reads like a lab report by a psychologist who has been observing hostile toddlers whack one another with plastic shovels in a sandbox."
"A frankly incredible book-a history and analysis of baseball's insular culture of unwritten rules, protocols and superstitions, assembled over the course of ten years…I can say without hesitation that this is one of the all-time greats-a first-ballot Hall of Famer."
"If baseball players adhere to a series of informal doctrines, then consider Turbow the ultimate code breaker…Turbow pulls back the curtain and breaks through the game's shroud of secrecy to deliver a grand slam of a book."
"A remarkably well-researched book, filled with intricate details of plays from the past 100 years."
"[A] highly entertaining read…A comprehensive, sometimes hilarious guide to perhaps a misunderstood aspect of our national pastime."
"Kramer's reading crackles with excitement as he projects a wry sense of humor when recounting the ongoing foibles of ballplayers, coaches, and umpires attempting to uphold a set of unwritten, occasionally conflicting rules of deportment that govern baseball and constitute the codes in the title of this entertaining book. That Kramer pronounces the participants' names correctly-even such tough ones as Napoleon Lajoie-is a rare treat…Kramer gives sympathetic voice to the mixed feelings of fans who feel that some elements of the game have been taken out of the players' hands due to the policing of baseball. This insightful disquisition on the codes of behavior that govern the game and how things have changed over the years is read by a competent narrator who obviously understands, enjoys, and respects America's pastime."
"One key tenet of the code is that players do not talk to the media about it. But he gets around this by providing ample anecdotal evidence, gathered from game accounts and the words of players who have loosened their tongues over the years. The result is a delightfully profane work that is awfully fun to read."
