Talkin’ Baseball, Steroids and “The Code” With Author Ross Bernstein

“The Code” in baseball is an interesting but seldom discussed aspect of the game. Just this past week, both Richie Sexson and Joba Chamberlain have caused ripples in the game because of it. In Sexson’s case, he thought a Kason Gabbard pitch was a little too high (it was) and a little too tight (it wasn’t) and charged the mound. The incident led to a bench-clearing brawl spearheaded by Sexson chucking his batting helmet into the back of Gabbard but was precipitated by a series of events that escalated the incident. In Joba’s case, it was a fist-pumping display of emotion in a Yankees’ blowout after a strikeout of David Dellucci that had many, including Dellucci , feeling Chamberlain was showing him up.

While I had a good understanding of the unwritten rules in baseball, the missing pieces of the puzzle were filled in recently when I picked up a copy of The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and It’s Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct by Ross Bernstein. The fascinating read not only retold some events that I was very familiar with like Ben Davis’ bunt single breaking up Curt Schilling’s perfect game in 2001 (a major “Code” no-no) but also told a number of stories I didn’t know like that of Stan “Big Daddy” Williams who used to drill batters to avoid walking them in order to reach an elevator clause in his contract by limiting his amount of walks. In addition, it elaborated on areas of “The Code” that I’ve always been familiar with like actions on the diamond that require retaliation and what is considered acceptable retaliation but also introduced me to areas of “The Code” I had never heard before. I never knew it was unacceptable for a player who just hit a home run to immediately remove his batting gloves like Milton Bradley did before the ball even left the ball park much to the dismay of opposing pitcher Andy Ashby in a ’03 game.

I had an opportunity to talk baseball, steroids, intimidation and “The Code” with author Ross Bernstein on two occasions and here is some of that interview:

BRIAN JOSEPH: There are a lot of great interviews and research in your book. How much research and time went into “The Code”?

ROSS BERNSTEIN: It took over a year to write. I read about 30 books and conducted roughly 100 interviews on and off the record. It was a labor of love. Guys like Torii Hunter were awesome. I got to get to know a lot of guys and spend a lot of time at the ball park. Being a known author in Minnesota gave me great access. A guy like Hunter takes you around and introduces you to other players and the next thing you know, you are in.

BJ: This was a sequel to your book on “The Code” in hockey and you compared the two in the book. How is “The Code” in the two sports different?

RB: For starters, hockey allows fisticuffs and the penalty is five minutes. The penalty in baseball is a lot more severe. You’re going to get ejected or fined or a suspension. So, hockey allows it as part of the culture and essentially when things boil over, they allow the players to drop the gloves and fight like men. The linesmen make sure that it is fair and no one has an unfair advantage. Then, they go cool down in the penalty box for five minutes and then, game on.

With baseball, the thing that was interesting was learning about the escalation process. You learn that there’s all these little events, little aspects, disrespects that occur. Someone showing someone up, maybe someone steals a sign and hits a home run or does something and it escalates and eventually leads to throwing high and tight or eventually someone gets drilled, charges the mound and a bench-clearing brawl ensues.

They are two different things but they are similar. The unwritten rules are basically about respect – play the game straight and you’ll be fine. Cheat, take short cuts or take liberties or show someone up in either sport and you’re going to be held accountable. In hockey, that’s maybe losing some teeth. In baseball, it means having to stand up and face a pitcher who might drill you.

BJ: It seems that the hockey execs embrace “The Code” but throughout your book you get the idea that baseball execs do not. Why do you think baseball puts so much energy into cracking down on “The Code”?

RB: It’s interesting. I actually spent an hour with (hockey) commissioner (Gary) Bettman and he loved “The Hockey Code.” I gave him a copy of the book, he read it and liked it because it explains hockey in an honorable way. The honor code in hockey is more than just fighting. It’s blocking shots and sacrificing your body and standing up for your teammates no matter what.

In baseball, the code is all these different little intricacies of the game. I think that the owners got in trouble because a big part of “The Code” in baseball is steroids and a lot of those kinds of things. There’s sort of systematic cheating. The old cliché in NASCAR, “if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’” is prevalent in all sports. What’s cheating and what’s gamesmanship? If a guy in soccer and draws a penalty, is that cheating? If Paul Molitor figures out the poker tells of a pitcher and he can communicate to his hitter by a whistle or a clap what pitch is coming next, that’s fair. However, if a team has a video camera or a telescope somewhere and interpret the signs that way, that’s cheating. There’s all these unwritten things.

As far as steroids go, I believe that baseball knew this stuff was going on but they needed the fans to come back to the game after the ’94 work stoppage. Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Brady Anderson, all those guys. I think this will be known as the Steroids Era. The Clemens stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. I think if people had any idea how many people were taking HGH and steroids, they’d be shocked. I spoke at a conference in Kentucky recently about steroids in sports and HGH is a miracle drug. Pitchers take it not to look like McGwire or Bonds but just so they can heal and pitch every day if they are a reliever or every fifth day if they are a starter.

Most guys just take it to stay healthy because they are making so much money, they need to be on the field. There’s pressure to be on the field. Go back to the “greenies” and amphetamines back in the ‘60s. It started when there was cross-country travel from L.A. to New York. They needed these guys to be awake. But it’s a societal thing. We’re all doping. We’re all taking our caffeine and Red Bull everyday. We’re all overstressed, overworked and tired. Everyone needs an edge. What’s fair? Caffeine’s okay but HGH isn’t or creatine or andro.

Then you talk to guys like Dave Winfield and they’re pissed because their records are crumbling from these people who’ve been artificially inflated. They did it the old fashioned way, they worked harder, they spent more time in the gym and sacrificed time from their families. Then, these guys come in and just take a drug and they can achieve those same results and make a lot of money. I definitely see where they are at.

BJ: You talked about “The Code” being similar to Fight Club in that the first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club . Did you run into any reluctance or resistance from players to talk about “The Code?”

RB: A lot… A lot of guys didn’t want to talk and you just totally had to respect that. I’ve been lucky. I’m not a great journalist by any stretch. I’m not going to be winning any Pulitzers, I promise you. I’ve written about 40 books and the hallmark of all my books have just been a lot of interviews. I sort of narrate the story a little bit but I let the players tell the story. The things that you are going to learn in my book are not from me but the players themselves who share insight. I think it was neat to have a lot of those interviews and I just tried to get whoever I could. In hockey, I can get a hold of anybody. I could call (Wayne) Gretzky right now and get a hold of him but in baseball, it’s a lot tougher. There were a lot of guys who were not comfortable talking about it.

Some current guys were very open but others like Johan Santana didn’t want to give up any company secrets. They didn’t want to put any bulletin board material out there.

BJ: Were there any players that you were disappointed that you didn’t get a chance to talk to?

RB: There were some players that I would call my white whales. They included Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson… some people I would have loved to talk to that would have been awesome but for whatever reason, I tried and tried and tried and came close. I talked to a few of them but not on the record.

BJ: What about Pete Rose? It seemed like he played by his own code. Did you get a chance to talk to him?

He’s another guy that could have been on the list of players I wanted to talk to. I think he would have talked if I would have paid him money. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get to talk to Pete.

BJ: Al Newman had a lot of interesting things to say. He said that today’s game is so different that a guy like him wouldn’t survive in today’s game because what he did didn’t matter anymore. You really think Newman couldn’t be Nick Punto for someone?

Al’s an interesting cat. He said some really insightful stuff. Al was kind of a role player and he embraced it. He was a utility guy who could fill in. He was like a fourth-liner in hockey… an energy guy. He was interesting to me because he was a middle infielder and I wanted to get his perspective on that part of “The Code”… guys sliding spikes high to take out the second baseman. He told a great story about bunting on Nolan Ryan and I thought that was pretty cool. Newman could play. (laughing) He gained a lot of weight. I just played softball with him in a celebrity game a little while ago but he could still get out there and do it today.

BJ: He contended that Twins’ manager Tom Kelly walked away from the game because he couldn’t relate to today’s players and I had never heard that before. Was that true?

RB: A big part of “The Code” has changed when you talk to the old guys. Back in the day, when you took batting practice, you didn’t even look at those guys. If you talked to those guys or even waved, you’d get fined $100 which was a lot of money back then. You were supposed to hate your opponents. Now, they all share the same manager, the same financial planner and there’s so much free agency that all the guys sit around and hang out talking. There’s a lot of down time in a four-game series. I think Newman’s comment was more that the game has really changed in that regard.

BJ: When you wrote “The Code”, what were you hoping the reader would get out of it?

RB: Well, I hope they’re entertained. A guy like you who is passionate about it, I doubt I’m going to surprise you. I consider myself a fan first and foremost. I hope to share a lot of fun stories and hopefully entertain. I can tell you that the hockey code was found to be fascinating and I’ve heard from 1000s of people from all over the world who thought that and were completely enlightened. When you see a game live and in person, you see it very differently and understand what’s going on more.

From reading your bio, I know you are a poker guy. I don’t know anything about poker but if someone were to teach me about it, I could watch it on TV and it would be much more enjoyable because I could follow the player’s history and their tells. That inside information would make it more enjoyable and I hope that is what this book does. I think “The Code” in baseball is hard to appreciate unless you go the game in person and watch.

BJ: On Sunday, I watched the Phils and Giants and in the game, a Giants’ player crushed Carlos Ruiz at the plate and later in the game, it looked like Giants’ first baseman Rich Aurilia was upset that Shane Victorino might have spiked him at first base. After the game, Victorino commented on the play at the plate and that he thought it was unnecessary. After reading “The Code” it made me wonder if maybe Victorino spiked Aurilia on purpose.

RB: Exactly! If you pick up those things and now with the rule changes and what umpires can do, teams have to retaliate different. Intimidation, fear and retaliation are a huge part of professional sports. Rob Dibble said he would try to be “effectively wild.” He might throw over a guy’s head on his first pitch just to scare the shit out of him and then get everyone on the bench talking. They’d think he was nuts. That guy might not dig in as hard at the plate and might not reach for the outside pitch. He might be a little bit afraid of getting a 100-mph fastball in the neck. That’s a huge advantage because now you got guys wondering what are they going to do? I think it’s a tactic and this book celebrates that.

BJ: Did you ever violate “The Code” while conducting your interviews?

RB: One time, I asked Sidney Ponson a question on a day he was pitching. He looked at me and said, “I don’t have to talk to anybody on the day I’m pitching.” I kinda learned that lesson the hard way.

BJ: After all of your research and interviews, who would rank as the top intimidators of all-time?

RB: I think Nolan is #1. He’s the first guy who really broke the 100-mph plateau. Certainly, Bob Gibson because you have the whole racial overtones going on. And Jackie Robinson who could roll over a catcher and take out a second baseman when the situation presented itself. He was a victim of a lot of bench jockeying that went on towards the black players, the Jewish players, the Latino players. If you want to throw in a modern guy, I’d say Pedro. He has that aura about him that he’s a headhunter.

BJ: What was the most interesting part of “The Code” for you?

RB: Sign stealing by far. I was completely amazed by what goes on. There’s like 1000 signs in one game. All the constant decoding and changing and switching of signs from the pitcher to the catcher from the third base coach to the first base coach to the manager to the second baseman to the shortstop. It’s just amazing what’s going on and most fans have no idea. They just watch the game and miss this. All of the subtleties that come along with the signs, I couldn’t get enough of all the espionage and cheating. It was really interesting.

BJ: And there’s Don Zimmer who climbed a light pole after being ejected to flash his signs… do you have a favorite story?

RB: Mike Marshall had some great stories. The guy was nuts. He used to love to drill guys. Plus, he’s such an intellectual guy, I had no idea. He’s got a PhD in Kinesiology and studies the stuff non-stop. He was funny as hell. Bert Blyleven, too… I loved Bert. I don’t know, I’m just an old school guy. I loved when the guys talked about beaning guys for the love of it. It’s like in hockey, some people hate it but I love it. I’m not one of those freaks on hockeyfights.com watching them constantly but I appreciate when there’s a good fight. It’s like that in baseball, too. Everyone has a role. If not, it’s like the Ozzie Guillen chapter about sending down Sean Tracey for not drilling a guy. Hey, if you’re not going to do your job and drill a guy, get the f*ck out.

I’d like to personally thank Ross for taking time out to talk to me and highly recommend his book, The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and It’s Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct .