Baseball has changed over the years. The games are shorter, pitchers’ workloads are limited, and bunts are few and far between.
Unwritten rules are exactly that – unwritten. They can’t change because they’re not official, but they can be enforced differently. The Boston Red Sox celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Red Sox team on Tuesday. The rules in 1975 were very different.
Intentionally throwing at a batter because their home run trot was too slow was more common. Bat flips and admiring home runs were frowned upon.
During the rain delay on Monday, NESN broadcasters Lou Merloni and Jim Rice shared stories about their playing days.
One topic that the two discussed was settling scores on the field. Rice talked about getting hit by a pitch and how there was likely to be retaliation. Merloni then talked about playing behind former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez.
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“I loved playing for Pedro. He’d take care of business,” Merloni said. “The problem with Pedro, sometimes he’d go rogue and he’d take care of his own business, and all of a sudden we’re in something.”
Martinez famously hit multiple New York Yankees in 2003, most notably Derek Jeter. Later that season in the American League Championship Series, Martinez hit Kareem Garcia. That resulted in a ball near Manny Ramirez, which caused a benches-clearing brawl.
In that case, Martinez was protecting his teammates. Still, it’s funny to imagine professional baseball players being on edge because their ace didn’t like the way someone was crowding the plate.
