OK, admittedly Morgan Ensberg only played 28 games in pinstripes, all of ’em at the tail end of a decade long professional career best remembered for a 36 HR total in 2005.  But with no disrespect intended towards Ensberg’s work between the lines, the early days of the newly launched Morgan Ensberg’s Baseball IQ reveal an unusually witty, self-deprecating voice that’s far too rare in the world of ballers-turned-bloggers. Responding to a recent claim by Bob Watson that ultra-lengthy ballgames are caused by batters and pitchers wandering around looking for “mug-time”, Ensberg writes, “Check me out!  I™m batting .200!  Haven™t slept in 8 years from sheer panic.  Sure, John Smoltz is throwing 100 mph, but I™m not thinking of his slider or his split.  I™m going to try and get a little face time.”  On the subject of Alex Rodriguez’ recent run-in with the previously unheralded Dallas Braden, Ensberg offers the following insight :

Mr. Braden invoked the law of œunwritten rules.  The biggest problem with this is that we literally have no book to go through on this one.  In lieu of this, I will use the actions of a  œreasonable person in my model.

Alex is caught in between second base and third base after Cano hits a ball foul.  Using my high school geometry as the backbone of this point, I know that the quickest way from one point to another is a straight line.  Rodriguez has to get back to 1st base, and the mound stands in his way.  Does a reasonable person just jog over the mound?

I believe he does.

There is no unwritten rule that a player can™t jog over the mound.  I know that because I am looking at the invisible unwritten rulebook.  Here is a the exact quote from the book,

œ                                                                                                                  œ

What?  You don™t see anything?  C™mon it is right below the 1st rule.  Right there!  You telling me you don™t see anything?  Jeez¦ok¦.I™ll just translate it for you.

It basically states that a player is allowed to walk over anything that is connected to the Earth if it is located on a baseball field.