A few months ago, Bryce Harper, the reigning NL MVP, caused a stir when he declared that baseball was a “tired sport.”  Harper was not calling out the game for being boring, he was challenging baseball’s “unwritten rules.”  For Harper, such rules put a damper on excitement by frowning upon players freely expressing their personalities.  Harper’s comments ignited a spirited debate, with many of baseball’s old guard roundly criticizing the 23-year-old All-Star. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred joined the debate and wisely noted that each generation of players take it upon themselves to police the game, to enforce baseball’s unwritten code of conduct.  Manfred expressed confidence that today’s current players – with bright young stars like Harper, Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Andrew McCutchen, Kris Bryant and Carlos Correa – will find a way to do just that in keeping with the current times. Recently, Josh Donaldson, the Toronto Blue Jays third baseman and the reigning AL MVP, challenged one of baseball’s most sacred of unwritten rules: the beanball.  On Sunday, Donaldson smashed a homerun in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins and stared into the Twins dugout as he crossed home plate.  That stare-down was directed at the […]