In the fourth inning, with a 9-2 lead, Daniel Murphy stole second base. Or maybe it was David Murphy. Could have been Donnie Murphy. Didn't get a good look.
Nobody Cares About The Unwritten Rules
But the point is that a member of the Rangers stole a base with a huge lead. In some circles, this is a big no-no. It's part of the famous unwritten rules that aren't in the book that they don't hand out to rookies during orientation. Some managers would take exception, and there'd be the possibility of a fracas, or even a brouhaha.
I doubt that Jim Leyland is one of those managers, though. He seems more like a Whitey Herzog kind of guy:
Unwritten rule, my ass. People talk about the “book” in baseball. There ain’t no damn book, and if there was, you’d rewrite it whenever you need to.(Looks like you can read a bunch of the linked book online, which is good. I’m sure the author made millions off the royalties already.)
If you don't want people stealing on you, you should probably throw them out. And in the next inning, with the Rangers up by five, Elvis Andrus tried to steal. Leyland ordered a pitchout, and Andrus was gunned down. That's a better to deal with the situation than complaining about it.
See More:
