The 20 Unwritten Rules Of Major League Baseball

It’s late in the game, and the opposing pitcher is on fire. You just can’t catch a break. Any time a hitter on your team does get a piece of the ball, it goes straight to a fielder. So you’re tempted to bunt the next one, just to get on base. You do it, but the fans start booing. Even your own supporters. Oh no, you just broke one of the rules…

Bunting is a cheap way to buy a hit, or so the thinking goes. And for a pitcher, losing a no-hitter thanks to a bunt hurts. For confirmation, we could ask Curt Schilling. San Diego Padres hitter Ben Davis broke up a perfect game in 2001 when he bunted Schilling for a hit. Worse came in Triple A in 2019 when Trenton Thunder’s Matt Lipka bunted on the last out of the game. The benches cleared for that one! 

Baseball doesn’t have a mercy rule, so when it goes badly, it can really go badly. To lessen the pain, the unwritten rule is that you don’t go out of your way to put runs on the board against a side you’re beating heavily. The blood really starts to boil when the other side has brought out its right fielder to save its pitchers in a blowout, and he gets smashed out of the park.

Not everyone obeys this rule, of course, and there have been some huge shellackings in the past. The biggest of all time came when the Texas Rangers handed the Baltimore Orioles a hammering in 2007. The Rangers hadn’t even gotten on the board after three innings, but then the floodgates opened. They ended up smashing 30 runs against the Os, who could only put up three in answer.

Not running up the score is a theme of the “rules.” It’s all to do with showing respect to your rivals. You’re both trying your hardest, so why do things that mock them? So swinging when you’re in a 3-0 count is a no-no. But some question why it makes things better to let a pitcher have a free strike now and then.

Among those questioners is Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. The young star smacked a grand slam off a Rangers pitcher in 2021. Tatis was sorry after he did it, though, given the furor it raised. He said, “I’ve been in this game since I was a kid. I know a lot of unwritten rules. I was kind of lost on this. Those experiences, you have to learn. Probably next time, I’ll take a pitch.”

Look away if you are squeamish: we’re getting to the tough stuff. From time to time, a pitcher will hit one of your hitters. Sometimes it’s an accident — the pitch got away from the hurler or your guy just didn’t get out of the way — but sometimes you’re sure it was intentional. Then it’s time for one of theirs to get hit in revenge.

Well, if you think that sounds silly, you’re not alone. Amir Garrett, Cincinnati Reds reliever, thinks it’s too much. He told ESPN in 2021, “You see the way somebody gets dunked and how they get in their face, or you see Russell Westbrook play and how he’s talking mess to the other team, that’s a lot of players in the NBA. They don’t get upset because they’re like, ‘Well, I’ve got to get you back.”

This one isn’t a rule for the players. It’s for the fans in the crowd, although you will see fielders throw a ball to a kid in the crowd. The rule is that if you catch a foul ball when you’re in the crowd, you should hand it to the kid nearest you. This way, the kid gets a souvenir that will last, and you have the memory of catching it.

Now, if that fielder throws the ball, and you catch it, what are you supposed to do? You guessed it. Give it to the nearest kid. They probably meant the kid to get the ball anyway. There’s an exception to this “rule,” though. If you have a kid at home, you can take it for them. But make sure everyone near you knows what you’re doing, or you’ll be considered the worst kind of ballgame villain.

One of the worst moments in baseball comes when a ball is smashed skywards, but no one calls for the catch. Two outfielders come together, and thwack! To avoid the collision, one of the “rules” comes into play. The center fielder gets to call off other outfielders if he thinks he can catch the ball.

Fielders can come together when the ball shoots into a gap between them. And the center fielder is usually the fastest player in the outfield, so he gets across the ground often. We all know how crucial communication is in these circumstances, and it’s normal for a fielder to call for the catch. But if you hear the center fielder, get out of his way!

So you’re the batter, and you tried for second on a play, but you were thrown out. Time to head back to the dugout. The natural shortest route would be straight over the pitcher’s mound. Uh-oh! You’d better go round. It doesn’t matter that you’d just run over it without damaging it at all. Nope. It’s the pitcher’s carefully defended territory.

Back in 2010 a player ignored this unwritten rule. It was star batter Alex Rodriguez, taking the quickest way to the bench after his hit was pouched. Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden didn’t take kindly to the idea of a hitter, even one as talented as A-Rod, touching his mound, and he gave the New York Yankee legend both barrels.

Perhaps nothing in baseball causes conflict as much as the bat flip. A batter hits a towering home run and stops to take a long, loving look at the ball as it disappears out of the diamond. Then he flips his bat way up in the air as he trots around the bases. Now that’s a guy who’s going to feel one in his bread basket next at-bat.

Pitchers hate it. It’s hard enough facing batters such as Jose Bautista as it is. And in 2015 Bautista, playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, smashed a dinger against Sam Dyson, relieving for the Rangers. It was a beauty, and certainly the champion hitter thought so. His bat spun through an epic flip, and he sauntered around the bases reveling in the glory.

If the pitcher does retaliate for some slight or other, or just accidentally tags you with his fast ball, that’s going to sting. But you can’t crumble with pain and start rubbing on the welt that the ball has left. No way. You’re a big, tough ball player. Grin it off, son, and pretend it never happened.

Of course, you get a walk when it happens. Unless you tried to hit it. Then it’s a strike, even if the pitcher hit you on purpose. It’s also a strike if you are hit in the strike zone. And it’s not even a walk if it hits you outside of the strike zone if you didn’t make any effort to get out of the way.

This rule’s for fans and commentators. You never mention that the game’s on its way to a no-hitter. This is like asking the fates to break up the perfect game. But as ridiculous as it may sound, this is one of the most solid unwritten rules that exist in baseball. Commentators will go to huge lengths not to talk about no-hitters.

In 1947 the first time the World Series was shown on TV, it was called by Mel Allen. And he kept schtum about the no-hitter. He said, “Obviously, what I said or didn’t say in the booth wasn’t going to influence anything that happened on the field. But I’ve always known that players on the bench don’t mention a no-hitter; they respect the dugout tradition. And I’ve always done the same. It’s part of the romance of the game.”

Baseball is supposed to be played with respect. Two teams of gentlemen meet on the field of combat, and then they, erm, play nice with each other. It might seem curious, but it’s really how the game is played. No one mocks other players, either on their team or the opponent. This includes not distracting fielders when they’re trying to catch the ball.

So it was no wonder that there was uproar when A-Rod — yes, him again — called off an opposing player when he was attempting a play at the ball. This was a serious breach of the rules, and A-Rod was lucky he didn’t try it against pitcher Bob Gibson’s team. He knew how to bear a grudge, once deliberately targeting a guy 15 years after he’d crossed Gibson.

We’ve all seen this one. A ball balloons off the hitter’s bat, and it’s hanging in the air right above the pitcher. Then suddenly the infielders rush in, frantically calling for the catch. They’re horrified that the pitcher might actually… try to catch the ball. It’s almost unheard of! But is it, really?

A lot of pitchers are actually really good fielders. They make plays all the time that require the same athleticism as any infielder shows. In June 2022 Cleveland Guardian Trevor Stephan caught a rocket on the mound. Some thought it was a web gem, one of the best of the season. An admiring fan even claimed he didn’t so much as flinch.

Now umpires aren’t perfect, we all know that. They always give all the calls to the other side. Right? Well, you’d think so to listen to fans. But it’s actually an unwritten rule that if the ump gives you the hump with a really egregious call, he pays you back later in the game with one your way.

This rule might soon be a thing of the past, because there’s a chance that umpires will be replaced with robots. They’ve been used in the minor leagues to huge success. Long Island Ducks manager Wally Backman, known to love an argument, told New Yorker magazine in 2021 that he loved them, saying, “It’s gonna be in the major leagues in a lot shorter time than people think.”

No one likes to be put out, but it is just terrible to be out at third. You’re so near to scoring. But the unwritten rule is not to give up your first or third out at the base. Well, yeah, it feels bad, but it’s not as though you were out on purpose! We’re guessing the idea is that you should be cautious when you’re only 90 feet from scoring.

But when the stats boffins looked at the numbers, they found out something that might surprise you. Yes, it makes no big difference whether you’re at third or at some other base for the first out. You don’t want to make the third out there because it’s really costly in expected runs. And just as bad, getting out at home. But for the first out, the base doesn’t matter.

Now sportsmen are like anybody. They have tempers that can be snapped in the wrong circumstances, such as when these rules are broken. And then things can come to a boil, and a fight can break out. In most games, two guys will trade blows, and that’s that. Not in baseball. If there’s a fight, both teams will join in, including the players on the bench and even the managers, sometimes. 

A good example was in 2022 when the New York Mets encountered the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards are renowned as sticklers for the unwritten rules, and they were furious when Met Yoan López shot one in inside and high at batter Nolan Arenado. A mess of players got involved in the fighting, including even the relief pitchers who were working out many yards from the action.

So you know to keep away from the pitcher’s mound when you’re out and leaving the field. But did you also know that when you’re coming in, you should avoid walking in front of the catcher and pitcher? Yes, you are supposed to walk into the box from the back of them.

That’s not all. If the pitcher is getting ready to join the game, you shouldn’t stand near the box. You can stand back and take a look at his action, but you can’t be near to him. Pitchers find it intimidating, and doing so is an invitation to a rib-tickler — and not one you’ll find funny either.

Now when you watch soccer, you’ll see wild celebrations over a score, but that’s not the baseball way. And it’s doubly not on to give it up when you get someone out on the other side. Even worse than pimping your homer is a pitcher who celebrates striking out a batter. The most you’re allowed is a quick pump of the fist.

Not everyone agrees with this rule. Take Jose Fernandez. He used to love getting batters out. He’d get them out swinging and then stare at them as they trudged off, fist pumping. But he played fair: he didn’t mind when a batter stood and admired dingers that they hit off his pitching. For Fernandez, that was just all part of the contest.

Here’s a rule that applies when you’re miles ahead and when you’re miles behind. No, it’s not “just go home.” No mercy rule, remember? Instead, the unwritten rule is to not try to steal a base. There’s just no point if you’re behind, and you’ll look silly when you fail. And if you’re ahead, well, you’re just rubbing it in.

Once again, not everyone sticks to this one. In 2009 Tampa Bay Ray Carl Crawford stole a base with his team up 7-0 against the Oakland A’s. Surely an infringement? Well, opponent Kurt Suzuki didn’t think so. He told newspaper the San Francisco Chronicle, “He plays the game hard. He plays the game right.”

Now here’s one that might seem obvious to you. Before the ball is in play, all fielders bar the catcher must be in fair territory. Even if they feel the batter is sure to foul this one off, so they could get a jump, they mustn’t position themselves behind the foul line. And this one isn’t just unwritten — it’s actually in the official rules.

After all, the fielders can stand anywhere they like that’s fair. They don’t have to be in predefined positions, as anyone who’s seen a big shift knows. So what happens if you stand in foul territory and catch the ball? It doesn’t count. If the batter smacks a homer? It counts.

Sometimes pitchers have a bad day. They get hit, the other team puts runs on the board, and all the poor hurler wants to do is get in the showers and call it a day. But it’s an unwritten rule that he can’t do that if he left runners on, and the inning is continuing. Nope, he has to sit in the dugout and watch his relief try to fix his problems.

Nor can the pitcher sprint from the mound to hide his head in shame when it all goes wrong. He has to hang out right there until the manager turns up to take the ball from him. But even Major League Baseball isn’t a huge fan of the unwritten rules. In 2018 it ran a campaign claiming that kids should be allowed to ignore them and on today’s social media, it celebrates bat flips and extravagant catches.