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I'm a bandwagon Seattle Mariners fan


By Damon Chlarson

Yes, you read that right. I hopped on the bandwagon when I was nine years old

during their record-setting 116-win season in 2001. Ichiro was the AL MVP and

Rookie of the Year. Lou Pineilla was AL Manager of the Year.  Bret Boone led

the league in RBI. Heck, even Safeco Field was home of the all-star game. It was

quite the time to be alive in the Pacific Northwest.

Bret Boone, all-star second baseman and probable steroid user, encapsulated all

that was cool for the time. He had the quarterback smile. He had the frosted tips

like he sung in Sugar Ray. He had forearms the size of Mississippi. But most of

all, Bret Boone knew how to bat flip, and bat flip he did on 37 home runs that

season.

He bat flipped, and he admired his home runs. Sometimes he would bat flip and

it would be a warning track shot. But that man loved his job, and I emulated it.


Much has been said recently regarding players criticizing those who admire their

homeruns. Bud Norris of the San Diego Padres (who has since apologized for

these culture comments) said recently, after saying how much the union

appreciates the diversity in baseball, “However, if you're going to come into our

country and make our American dollars, you need to respect a game that has

been here for over a hundred years, and I think sometimes that can be

misconstrued. There are some players that have antics that have done things

over the years that we don't necessarily agree with.”

Then Wednesday, after “Joey Bats” Bautista hit a go ahead three-run homerun in

the 7th inning of Game 5 of the ALDS against Texas, starting pitcher Cole Hamels

(who truly had pitched a gem and could have won if his defense made a play in

that inning), said, of Bautista’s bat flip and admiration for the absolute moonshot,

after the game, "It's hard to be politically correct. It's tough to see. A lot of us on

our team don't carry ourselves that way."

Now, I’m not sure if he meant these comments are about the Latino culture, or

maybe he’s got a thing against Canadians. It would have been fine if he had said

“I don’t like how he carried himself” or “I thought it was classless” but to comment

on how hard it is to be politically correct, and then criticize somebody’s antics, it

definitely implicates his ethnicity as being the culprit behind these “antics.”

Diehard baseball lifers, those who will say things like “Act like you’ve been there

before!” and “Play the game the right way” are also not a fan of Bautista’s bat flip.

Ironically those same people defend Chase Utley for breaking up a double play

and literally breaking Ruben Tejada’s leg. But, no, don’t you dare flip your bat or

watch the ball leave the park. In fact, if you do, you deserve a plunking the next

time you take the plate, because physical violence and threatening to hit

somebody is more acceptable than being passionate and enjoying the sport

you’re paid millions to play and have dedicated your life to.

Sam Dyson, the Texas reliever who gave up the homerun said, ““Jose needs to

calm that down, just kind of respect the game a little more. He’s a huge role

model for the younger generation that’s coming up playing this game, and I mean

he’s doing stuff that kids do in Wiffle ball games and backyard baseball. It

shouldn’t be done.”

Get a grip. Baseball’s “unwritten rules” need to be rewritten. If you hit a home

run, admire it, flip your bat, trot around the bases, point up to the sky; celebrate.

But the next time you take the plate, and the pitcher gets the best of you, I hope

he fist pumps and lets out a big yell.

Baseball is a game. It’s entertainment, so entertain me. Give me chills. Don’t act

like you’ve been there before, put me in your shoes and act like you haven’t,

because I sure as heck haven’t.

Baseball is about October magic, and magic isn’t rational. It doesn’t follow

conventional wisdom and unwritten rules. October magic is a Kirk Gibson pinch-

hit home run to win game one of the 1988 World Series. It’s Derek Jeter catching

Shane Spencer’s errant throw, making “the Flip” to Jorge Posada to tag out

Jeremy Giambi in the 2001 ALDS in Oakland. It’s the Red Sox coming back

down 3-0 to the Yankees in the ALCS in 2004.

And, it’s Jose Bautista taking a 97 MPH Sam Dyson fast ball into the stands in

the 7th inning of the 2015 ALDS, advancing his Toronto Blue Jays into the ALCS

after 20 years of playoff-less baseball.

That’s October magic.

That’s respecting the game.

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