There is a rule on the books -- Rule 3.09 -- which prevents players from talking to each other and being friendly while in uniform. It’s a widely-ignored rule that, for reasons which are known only to Joe Torre, the league asked teams to start paying more attention to back in 2011. They didn’t of course because the rule is dumb.
Buster Olney mentioned in his column today that the rule may be axed for that very reason. Just taken off the books.
Which: good. There is nothing wrong with showing fans that it’s OK to like and respect their competitors. That the game is the game and that, when it is over or in a lull, it does not have to extend into some intense personal rivalry as well. That these are human beings, not gladiators, and they can and should be allowed to express friendly feelings toward one another because, in reality, most of them are friendly with one another.
Seeing two guys chatting at first base or talking to each other as one team comes out for batting practice as the other leaves always makes me feel better about baseball. I’m glad that baseball doesn’t enforce its rule against that and I’ll be happy if they remove the rule altogether.
