Book Review: "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, & Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime," by Jason Turbow, with Michael Duca

How's that for a title?
I loved this book. If you don't love baseball, you probably won't. Unless of course, you're kind of interested in baseball and happen to like fun stories about codes of honor. This book is full of stories about when it's appropriate to hit a batter, when one should do a take-out slide, what to do in a brawl, and so forth.
Basically the Codes boil down to one thing: Respect. Respect the game, respect your teammates, respect the opposition. If you don't, feel free to expect a ball to the head. (Or expect your teammate to get it. No matter what, retaliation is expected.)
There are other motives for retaliation, too. An example from the back of the book: "When he was fifteen, Tommy Lasorda had his autograph request snubbed by outfielder Buster Maynard. Seven years later, as a minor league pitcher, Lasorda got his revenge when he knocked Maynard down with three pitches in a single game."
Another: "In 1974, frustrated by his team's 6-12 start, Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis took the mound against the Reds, determined to hit every batter. he hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen and then walked Tony Perez, who just barely dodged four balls in a row. After Ellis's next two pitches barely missed Johnny Bench, Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh pulled him from the game. After that, the Pirates went 82-62 on their way to winning the NL East."
And one not on the back cover that I enjoyed:
"...[Lou] Piniella, playing for Kansas City, responded to a brushback from [Jim Perry], a pitcher with Detroit, by charging the mound for the first and only time in his career. He later called it one of the biggest mistakes he ever made on a baseball diamond. That's because not long thereafter the Royals visited Cleveland, where Gaylord Perry was eagerly awaiting their arrival. When Piniella stepped in against him, he shouldn't have been surprised to see a fastball headed directly at him. 'Gaylord put one, I mean he put one under his chin,' said Indians outfielder Oscar Gamble. 'You know how you have to throw your bat and throw your arms and get out of the way and the ball is choking you? This ball choked Lou. He went down. Then he looked out to the mound and said, "Damn, I didn't know he had a brother."' Consider it a lesson learned. 'If I have any advice,' said Piniella, 'it's don't charge the mound of a brother who has a pitcher for a brother.'"
There are others. Many others. And they're all enjoyable. But I'll stop here to avoid turning you off and to avoid copyright infringement. Suffice it to say I enjoyed it.