Maybe They Should Write These Rules Down

Fox draws ire of both managers today (3/28)
Jeff Zrebiec/Baltimore Sun

Orioles catcher Jake Fox hit his Grapefruit League-leading 10th home run today in the Orioles 14-9 rout of the Detroit Tigers at Ed Smith Stadium. However, he left a pretty poor impression on both managers because of one sequence in the eighth inning.

The Orioles had runners on second and third and no outs in the eighth inning today when Fox came to the plate against Tigers minor leaguer Chance Ruffin. The most important aspect of this story is the score was 13-3 at the time, and both teams had subbed out most of their regulars. Ruffin started the at-bat with three straight balls, but Fox decided to take a rip at a 3-0 pitch in a clear take situation.

It certainly qualified as a breach of baseball etiquette. Swinging 3-0 in a 10-run game with no outs in the eighth inning with a minor league pitcher on the mound is a decent way to make sure you get a fastball in the ribs in your next at-bat. The average fan may not think it was a big deal but Orioles manager Buck Showalter and Tigers manager Jim Leyland certainly did.

Showalter angrily yanked off his hat, and was seen yelling in the home dugout to anyone in particular. His hat off the whole time, he kept shaking his head and muttering throughout the rest of Fox's at-bat, which resulted in a walk Leyland, meanwhile, yelled at Fox from the top step of the dugout.

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You see, this is one of the major reasons I hate baseball, this and the mind numbing boredom. For a game where the players spit and scratch themselves constantly they sure do have a lot of unwritten etiquette rules. That’s why I like the easy sports – football and basketball and the only unwritten rule in those is when you’re winning by a lot you put in backup players. Just don’t run up the score.

I guess that’s at the heart of this story too but I didn’t know there were certain pitches you weren’t allowed to swing at. I’m pretty sure if I played baseball I’d have my head taken off in the first game for violating some stupid rule I didn’t know existed. Oh well, take me out to the ball game.