In a sport where jogging around the bases too slow after hitting a homerun could result in a 90 MPH fastball to the head your next at bat. What do you think would happen if the pitcher found out you had a little help when it came to hitting that home run that you jogged so slowly after?

There are many unwritten rules in sports. Baseball arguably has the most unwritten rules of them all.

Of those unwritten rules, some are psychological, like don’t step on the baseline chalk before a game, not talking to a pitcher that has a no hitter going, or not changing your daily routines if you’re on a hot streak.

Other unwritten rules are guidelines for during the game itself including: Don’t bunt to ruin a no-hitter/perfect game, don’t bat flip and stare at a home run then slowly make your way around the bases, don’t steal or swing on a 3-0 count if you’re winning by a large margin and don’t slide in with your cleats up.

When those unwritten rules are broken, they seem to be taken care of by the players themselves, either immediately or later on in life. Some say it’s old school baseball.

For example, in 2019, Pittsburgh Pirates, pitcher, Chris Archer gave up a home run to Cincinnati Reds second basemen Derek Dietrich. Archer believed Dietrich took to long watching the ball and consequently Dietrich received a ball thrown behind him in his next at bat.

Legendary St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Bob Gibson, was once known for throwing at a batter 15 years after a similar event.

There are so many unwritten rules when it comes to baseball, and in most cases the consequences are the same….. a batter getting beaned by a ball… usually in the 90 MPH range.

Even with all these unwritten rules, there is one rule that is written and is widely known, in any sport. DON’T CHEAT.

Majority of the unwritten rule scuffles end up being personal matters between players and in some cases rivalry’s between teams. But what happens when an organization as a whole goes past those unwritten rules and does the one thing that isn’t accepted? What happens when what is usually personal issues becomes a league wide conflict.

The Houston Astros used live in-game video to replay signs to their hitters. The team would bang a trash can to indicate what type of pitch would be coming next. Some players and fans also believe some players (Jose Altuve for instance) had a buzzer under their jersey that also indicated what pitch would be coming.

The Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series in seven games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They later lost the 2019 World Series to the Washington Nationals.

Now that the information has been released and the Astros were found guilty of cheating, many were trusting in the MLB system to fix it so they (the players) wouldn’t have too.

However, MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, decided to only suspend Houston’s general manager and manager, fine the organization $5 million and take the Astros first and second round draft picks for the next two years, but not strip the team of their World Series title.

Some players completely disagreed with Manfred’s decision, believing the Astros should’ve been stripped of their title.

According to MLB.com, Los Angeles Angels outfielder and 3x AL-MVP, Mike Trout, said “It’s tough. They cheated. I don’t agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything. It was a player-driven thing. It sucks, too, because guys’ careers have been affected. A lot of people lost jobs. It was tough. Me going up to the plate knowing what was coming? It would be fun up there.”

Yu Darvish, who now pitches for the Chicago Cubs, started game 3 and 7 in the 2017 World Series. Darvish in the deciding game 7 went only 1.2 innings giving up 4 earned runs. Once Darvish heard of the cheating scandal he believed the Astros should’ve been stripped of their title and even went on to say they would’ve been disbanded in Japan for their actions.

“It’s a weird feeling. Like, in the Olympics, when a player cheats, you cant have a Gold medal, right? But they still have a World Series title. That makes me feel weird,” Darvish said.

Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, who hit .276 in the 2017 World Series, including two home runs, one of which in Game 5 set an MLB record for highest launch angle. The home run was “hit at a 48-degree angle reaching a height of 169 feet,” the ball ended up going 328 feet away.

After the announcement came out the Astros were guilty, Correa said, “There’s no excuse, we were wrong for everything we did in 2017. We feel really bad for possibly ruining careers and having that advantage by using technology.” Correa went on to say, “It was just straight-up wrong. It was bad.”

Chicago Cubs third basemen Kris Bryant, wasn’t accepting of the Houston apology, “What a disgrace that was.” Bryant would go on to say later they [Houston] are only sorry because they got caught.

Houston pitcher Lance McCullers said he believed they earned that title 100 percent.

In 2017, Altuve also won the AL MVP over front-runner Aaron Judge. Judge, who lost to the Astros in the ALCS wasn’t too pleased with the news either.

“I just don’t think it holds any value. You cheated and didn’t earn it. It wasn’t earned by playing the game right and fighting till the end and knowing that we’re competing. The biggest part about competition is laying it all out on the line and whoever is the better player and better person comes out on top,” Judge said. “To know another team had an advantage, that had nothing you could really guard against… I just don’t feel like that was earned.”

MLB legend Hank Aaron thinks the players involved should be banned from the sport.

So in a sport where watching a home run for too long can result in a fastball to the head, and now having a team cheat to a World Series Title and an MVP and basically get no punishment, what do you think will happen to the Astros?

“I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It’s wrong. They’re messing with peoples careers,” Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis said.

Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling when asked if he would hit a Houston batter if given the opportunity said, “I would lean towards yes.”

In an interview with ESPN, Manfred said he would be sending out a memo to every MLB team about throwing at Houston hitters, saying the punishment would be more severe.

“It is simply not appropriate to express whatever frustration you may have growing out of the Astros situation by putting someone physically at risk by throwing at them,” Manfred said. “It’s just not acceptable.”

Some players don’t agree with Manfred’s post-punishment decision.

“Somebody will take it into their own hands, and they’ll get suspended more games than any of those guys got for the biggest cheating scandal in 100 years,” Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood said. “It’ll be pretty ironic when that happens, because I’m sure that’s how it’ll end up playing out.”

As the 2020 season approaches us the question is… In a historic sport like America’s pastime, full of unwritten rules where players hold each other accountable, and with a league not given out an approved punishment… will pitchers take the suspention and still bean the Astro hitters?

We’ll find out for sure when Houston travels to Oakland for a three game series, March 30 – April 1. Oakland has Mike Fiers in their pitching rotation, Fiers was the one who publicly announced the details behind the sign-stealing scandal.

When asked about pitchers throwing at the Astros or if he’s thought about being intentionally hit Fiers said “It’s the same with those guys (the Astros), they’ve got to go in there hoping to play the game of baseball and if they get hit they get hit. The consequences are going to be what it is.”

We don’t know how teams are going to handle playing the Houston Astros but what we do know is if old school baseball continues and the unwritten rules are followed, there will be plenty of consequences dished out this year… both by players and now by the league.