They’re called the “unwritten rules” of baseball.

And they’ve been a hot topic this season, particularly after Sunday’s game between the Tigers and Angels, when Erick Aybar bunted in an attempt to break up Justin Verlander’s no-hit bid in the eighth inning of a three-run game.

In that same game, Carlos Guillen homered off Jered Weaver, flipped the bat and stared down the Angels hurler nearly the entire way to first base.

In response to Guillen’s showboat, Weaver threw above the head of the Tigers’ next batter, prompting his ejection, a war of words, and 24 hours of nauseating talk about the “unwritten rules” of baseball.

But why does everyone call these rules “unwritten.” Is it because most of this banter takes place on sports talk radio and TV, where people don’t know how to write? Or do they not know the game?

I got a kick out of the recent MLB Home Run Derby, not because my boy Robinson Cano won it, but because it reminded me of one of my crazier kayak missions.

That’s right, kayak missions.

The left-hand-swinging Cano hit most all of his 32 homers to right field, but in my one trip to the derby, right field saw almost no action at all. This, of course, was a bummer because the derby I attended was in 2007 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

If you scamper around the web, many online rankings and mock draft results will have Mark Ingram falling to around a seventh-round selection, or ranked in the 25 – 30 range for running backs.

It seems many experts and fantasy owners are still scared to draft a Saints running back because of all the rotational use over the past few years with Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and others. This is understandable as many fantasy owners have been let down by Bush’s disappointing career and Thomas’s constant health issues.

While Ingram has to prove he can stay on the field, at the pro level, he seemed to have no problems with durability at Alabama, outside of his hamstring injury that cost him a couple of games to start last season.

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter recorded his 3,000th hit in dramatic fashion Saturday, homering on a 3-2 pitch from Tampa Bay southpaw David Price in the third inning to become the 28th member of the 3,000-hit club.

He is the first Yankee to tally 3,000 hits all in pinstripes.

After head coach of NC State, Tom O’Brien, sent Russell Wilson packing, it looked like Wilson may settle for baseball in the Colorado Rockies organization. But as time elapsed during college football’s offseason, various suitors came to Wilson in hopes to acquire a veteran and accomplished commodity.

It worked.

Earlier today, Wilson took a page from LeBron James’ decision and created Decision Part II when he announced that he would continue his college football career in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Badgers. But is anyone to blame? Is it a good fit? How does O’Brien and the Wolfpack feel now that their best player, since Philip Rivers, rides off into the sunset?

When ESPN released rumors of Wilson choosing to further his football career with the Badgers, I have to admit that part of me was a little surprised. As documented in the past, I always thought that college football was a better path for him. But with a professional career already on lock-down and initial comments from the Rockies that they expected RW to be playing baseball for the duration of this season, I thought that he may stay swinging the bat.

Congratulations to our friend Michael Cardano and the RotoExperts/XLog crew for becoming the first BallHyped account to surpass the 1,000-Hyped mark on BallHyped.com.

TheXLog.com surpassed the 1,000-Hype plateau on a great post about some talented minor league prospects called up to “The Show.”

And like those prospects, the crew at TheX have some serious skills, so we thought we’d sit down with Cardano, AKA the former owner of MC3 Sports Media and current Senior Business Administrator for RotoExperts and Executive Director of TheXLog.com, to get an update on the blog and also get his take on things around the sports world.

Steven Beck writes for  Triad Sports Daily and the BallHyped Sports News Service. ‘Hark The Sound’, the alma mater of UNC is really making some sense to me lately. And I am positive that Carolina’s football coach, Butch Davis, is the loudest voice you hear singing it. Here’s a little taste of the songs last line, that [...]

Shocking news out of Northern Ireland today: Irishman and U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy doesn’t like Guiness.

I know, right? Isn’t that like, I don’t know, discovering a species of fish that doesn’t like water?

All kidding aside, McIlroy probably didn’t do himself any sponsorship favors when he told Dan Patrick “I don’t like the stuff” in a phone interview from Northern Ireland. Brilliant!

Then again, he did admit he likes a cold Heineken, so maybe the 22-year-old golf star is looking to make a move to the Netherlands?

In honor of McIlroy snubbing his hometown brew, I’d like to toast the top 10 athletes I’d like to enjoy a Guiness with.