Last night Rattler shortstop Carlos Triunfel noticed that he was not being held on by the Fort Wayne first baseman. So, he attempted to steal second base. No big deal, right? Well, he tried to steal second in the bottom of the eighth inning...with the Rattlers leading 11-3. Leury Bonilla grounded out on the pitch and Triunfel made it to second.
You could see what was coming next. Fort Wayne pitcher Derek McDaid's next pitch was at the ribs of Jair Fernandez.
Fernandez got out of the way and the ball went to the screen for a wild pitch. Rattler manager Jim Horner greeted Triunfel and began telling him why that is something that you don't do while the home plate umpire was giving a warning to both benches.
On the broadcast, I mentioned that stealing with that big a lead is an unwritten rule and that someone should write them down. Alert listener Bob Rapp sent a link to a BaseballAlmanac page with an article by Baseball Digest with the unwritten rules written out.
There are 30 of them, but that is not all inclusive. The don't steal when well ahead rule is number 7.
By throwing at Fernandez, the Wizards gave up their chance to retaliate against Triunfel. The Rattlers probably won't do anything today, unless Fort Wayne does throw at Triunfel today or tomorrow. This is an addendum to unwritten rule #26 on the list.
UPDATE: Triunfel is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game.
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