Published: May 10, 2008 11:47 pm      

ERIC KNOPSNYDER | ‘The Code’ not worth cracking

The premise is a good one: Take all of baseball’s “unwritten rules,” write them down and offer insight into the reasons they are necessary and the consequences that can result in breaking them.

The problem is, Ross Bernstein’s “The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and Its Ignore-At-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct” (Triumph Books, 240 pages, $22.95) has more holes in it than Mario Mendoza’s swing.

Though it should be a great read for hardcore baseball fans, “The Code” swings and misses far too often, especially in the opening chapters. It’s so basic in the early going that only the most determined of baseball fans are likely to make it to the end, where some actual insight is offered.

It ends up being a Catch 22 situation, as Bernstein’s book would be a great primer for the non-baseball fan, but how many non-baseball fans are actually going to sift through more than 250 pages if they’re not interested in the sport?

Those of us that love baseball are bored with the book by the time he stops explaining the parts we already know.

Bernstein is the author of more than 40 books, including “The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL,” and the more recent “Slapshot Original,” which looks at famed Charlestown Chief Dave Hanson.

A Minnesota native, Bernstein used people with links to the Twins organization as his sources for most of the book’s revelations, giving “The Code” the feel of a local publication, not a national one. Had it been the Yankees that he was chronicling the tactic might have worked, but how many people in San Diego are going to remember former Twins utility infielder and manager Frank Quilici?

His infatuation with the Twins comes at a cost, as the reader is left wondering why Bernstein didn’t talk with some players who seem like natural interview subjects.

In the chapter on retaliation, Bernstein mentions that Craig Biggio was hit by more pitches than anyone in the history of major league baseball. Sadly, Biggio wasn’t interviewed for the book.

More unforgivable, Bernstein makes errors in fact. He says that when Jackie Robinson came to the majors in 1947 “(t)he civil rights movement was in full swing.” Really?

That’s news to me, and I’m sure it would be news to the Robinson family, as he is so often credited with helping to spur the civil rights movement.

He’s an inch off on Randy Johnson’s height. He calls Larry Bowa a “longtime manager” despite having just 51⁄2 big-league seasons to his credit.

Those are small quibbles, to be sure, but the sum of them begins to eat away at the credibility of someone entrusted with giving us an inside look at baseball.

Like some pitchers, “The Code” does get better as it goes – the chapters on umpires and sign stealing can offer insight to even the most dedicated fans – but, unfortunately, it was too little, too late.



Eric Knopsnyder is the sports editor of The Tribune-Democrat.