In lieu of actual baseball, I’ll be posting snippets that were cut from The Baseball Codes as a way of amusing myself and, hopefully, you. Today’s theme: showboating and celebrations These old stories help show just how far baseball has come.

In the final game of a homestand in July 1997, Angels slugger Jim Edmonds hit a mammoth home run against Cleveland’s Charles Nagy, stood at the plate, screamed in celebration, then took his time circling the bases.

When he next batted it was the eighth inning. Indians manager Mike Hargrove had decided after the seventh that Nagy was finished, but with Edmonds leading off, sent the right-hander out to start the eighth. Nagy promptly drilled Edmonds, and the two exchanged heated words.

“It was the first sign of life the Indians had shown in two weeks,” reported the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Hargrove orchestrated it, but how many noticed?”