Fight Club has defined rules. Vegas getaways? One rule.
Baseball?
There are rules, unwritten rules, amendments to unwritten rules and adjustments to those amendments.
"I'm not that smart to know all the unwritten rules," Rick Renteria said Sunday. "I wish somebody would put them in a book because I'd like to see them."
Renteria, the White Sox manager, has only been involved in professional baseball since 1980.
Can you bunt to break up a no-hitter? Does it matter if it's a blowout or three-run game? Is it kosher to steal a base down eight runs in the eighth inning? How about down six in the sixth at Coors Field?
And the trickiest of them all: What is the appropriate way to celebrate? And show frustration? (Ask Javier Baez and Clint Hurdle about that one.)
"The pitcher enjoys when they strike out people," White Sox third baseman Yolmer Sanchez said, "so why can't a hitter enjoy if you hit a homer?"
A new unwritten rule emerged Saturday night after Royals catcher Salvador Perez explained his reasoning for barking at Tim Anderson after Anderson's leadoff home run.
"He doesn't know about getting excited," Perez said. "You have to be in (the) playoffs to get excited, win a World Series."
Huh? So now there are different rules for the postseason?
Anderson hollered with excitement after leaving the batter's box, as he did on Opening Day after his two home runs at the same venue, Kauffman Stadium.
After Anderson tapped home plate Saturday, Perez said he told him: "I've hit some homers too. I keep running the bases. I don't get loud like you. That's the only thing I tell him. Keep doing what you're doing, bro. Have fun. It's a game, you know, but respect my team. That's it. He was mad about that."
After Perez reached second base in the bottom of the first, Anderson tried to explain that he was not disrespecting the opponent. That chat lasted long enough for the benches to empty.
Acting Sox manager Joe McEwing got between the two, playing peacemaker: "They were just talking about the situation. But when players are that close, you just try to intervene and keep it that way."
Anderson got booed Saturday after his leadoff homer. And some Royals fans took pleasure in his misplaying a one-hopper and grounding into two double plays.
But Anderson, relaxed and upbeat, had no problem talking about the incident: "I'm a leadoff guy, so my job is to get my teammates going. It's not about the (other team), it's about my teammates. I play the game with a lot of energy, lot of confidence. Just having fun."
And if people don't appreciate him yelling after home runs?
"So what?" Anderson said. "If they don't like it, pick another vocation."
Anderson is the heartbeat of the Sox, a geyser of energy whom the team locked up ($25 million over six seasons) before he accrued a single year of service time.
The Sox adore him. Chicago fans seem to, as well.
"I love the kid to death," Renteria said. "He's the guy that you want on your team. I don't think he should rub anybody the wrong way. He's here to give us a spark, give his teammates a spark, and he never does it with the intent of disrespecting the opposition."
And yet if someone pens baseball unwritten rules, Anderson might get a chapter.
Benches cleared in August after Anderson jawed with Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman after a strikeout. On the last homestand, Justin Verlander barked about Anderson's efforts to steal bases with the Sox down 5-0.
"He steals on 3-0 in a 5-0 game; that's probably not great baseball," Verlander said. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I don't know. But he celebrated that, though."
So even within his own complaint, Verlander can't say where the line is.
Anderson played through grief last year after the death of close friend Branden Moss, the godfather to daughter Peyton.
"They're trying to take the fun out of baseball," Anderson said. "I went through too much last year to not have fun. I'm having fun this year. I'm going to continue to be me."
