Baseball Etiquette: Don’t cut across the pitcher’s mound mid-inning

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez drew the ire of A’s pitcher Dallas Braden this past week for a breach of baseball etiquette.

What happened?

Rodriguez cut across the mound and stepped on the rubber as he returned to first base after a foul ball during the sixth inning of the Yankees’ game at Oakland. Braden was incensed and followed A-Rod off the field at the end of the inning.

Opinions of the incident are mixed. From the Sun News:

Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir told reporters A-Rod chose an atypical path back to first but that he likely would have let it go.

“It’s kind of weird that he would go up the hill like that, but I probably wouldn’t have made that big a deal about it,” Kazmir said, according to ESPNLosAngeles.

Others disagreed.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, as old school as managers come, told AOLFanhouse that “a lot of guys” in the game don’t know about the stay-off-the-mound code and was in Braden’s corner.

“He’s been taught right,” La Russa said, according to Fanhouse.

Former catcher and FOX analyst Tim McCarver recalled Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, a legendary intimidator, and his viewpoint on hitters coming near the mound, which Gibson called his “office.”

“You never come into my office unless you’re invited,” McCarver said. “And you’ll never be invited.”

Related: See our selection of MLB gear at the fan shop.

Gear up for opening day with a brand new MLB T-shirt

Five days. A hundred and twenty hours. Seven thousand, two hundred minutes.

Opening day is getting closer and closer. It won’t be long until the Yankees and Red Sox officially break the seal on the 2010 MLB season this Sunday.

Whether your team will be playing at Fenway or some place far away, gear up for the new season in style. Baseball Express has stocked a collection of brand new MLB T-shirts in just about every style, from Dri-Fit training shirts to old school throwback shirts.

We have logo gear from all 30 MLB teams in a variety of different styles. Get them for $14.99 – $22.99.

You can see the entire selection here. But here are some of our favorites:

Related: Browse our entire selection of MLB baseball caps.

Could the MLB be moving toward an outright ban on maple baseball bats?

The MLB’s recent decision to ban ultra-light maple baseball bats in the minor leagues has set off some speculation.

Should we expect an outright ban on maple bats soon?

It’s way too early to tell. However, the MLB’s decision to prohibit soft red maple and silver maple bats in Minor League Baseball shows that the league is taking the safety concern seriously.

The concern stems from how the bats break. They have been shown to shatter violently, spraying shards of wood throughout the infield.

It’s especially hazardous for pitchers.

In a spring training game last week, Rays pitcher David Prince managed to escape a broken bat with only a cut on his hand. Adrian Beltre’s maple bat shattered on a pitch and sent a chunk of wood straight for his head, but Prince moved out of the way.

The incident left Rays manager Joe Maddon incensed.

“Someday, somebody is going to get killed or impaled,” Maddon told the Associated Press. “David was fortunate today.”

The MLB has been studying the controversy surrounding maple bats since the end of the 2008 season, and it instituted new quality guidelines on maple bats last season, which brought down the incidences of cracked bats.

But still, the shattering problem persists.

The MLB has been known to test rule changes in the minor leagues, because they do not have to be approved by the players’ union. For the moment, the new regulations apply only to the minor leagues and players that have not been called up to the majors.

As part of the rule change, any major leaguer whose bat broke at least 10 times last year must consult with a panel of bat experts to determine if there is some extenuating problem.

Could the ban extend to other types of maple and into the big leagues?

No telling. That will depend on how effective the current ban is.

Related: Browse our selection of wooden baseball bats.

Happy Spring Training! Get a New Era 2010 MLB batting practice cap

The waiting is finally over. Spring Training goes full-swing this week.

Teams throughout the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues will throw the first pitches of the 2010 Spring Training season this week. Whether you’re in Arizona or Florida — or just watching from home — make sure you do it in style.

Baseball Express has just received the official 2010 New Era MLB Batting Practice Hats. They’re like game hats — with a twist.

They have the stylish MLB logos on the front and a line of color trim going down the bill. They’re stretch-fit, and each hat retails for $24.99.

View the entire selection of hats here. Here are a few of our favorites:

Related: Browse our entire selection of MLB baseball caps.