After spending a few dozen games in Major League Baseball's minor league system, the unwritten rules started to make sense to me. I needed to respect the history and etiquette and "the way things are done." I was indoctrinated like every other professional ballplayer.
So as a former major leaguer turned assistant Little League coach, I wasn't sure what to explain to my son when his teammate took one in the back, shook it off and jogged toward first before getting an apology from the pitcher. She then promptly ran to the mound, shook his hand and went back to first.