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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