Those who have been connected to Think Blue LA for some time know that I love baseball and I am somewhat of a traditionalist. I have frequent flashbacks to the days when attire and grooming were important features of a team. That is, neat uniforms, not pajama bottoms dragging on the ground, and all players wearing their uniforms in the same style. Players were clean shaven with neat haircuts, not with unkempt beards and straggly hair flowing out from under their hats and helmets. Now you could argue that the personal look enhances performance but that would be a very hard sell. I also prefer uniforms without names on the back.

I loved the game without all of the present day use of video replays and the delays associated with it. If nothing else the game has always been one in which the human element dominated and that included umpire decisions, and their infrequent mistakes. We know right now the use of video replay will continue to expand in the next few years. If I live long enough I will see balls and strikes being called electronically.

However, there is one unwritten rule that I absolutely do not share any enthusiasm for and see it as a detriment to the game – allowing the pitcher to be the judge, jury and executioner as to how a batter is to conduct himself after cranking a home run. The hitter isn’t supposed to look at the pitcher – the very same pitcher who had been staring and glaring at him as well as trying to humiliate him with a variety of pitches. The hitter after swatting the long fly must then take off towards first base in a timely yet unspecified period of time and is forbidden to admire his work with the bat. He must discard his bat, again in an unspecified manner, but not flip it. A “flip”supposedly shows disrespectful to the pitcher who just served up the tater – the very same pitcher who just humiliated and embarrassed himself with his gopher ball pitch.

Reggie Jackson is arguably the king admiring his home runs – especially in October. (AP Photo)

Hitting a home run is one of the most difficult tasks in all of sports yet it can’t be celebrated. Well actually it can be celebrated but only in a way dictated by the pitcher as there is no specific written or unwritten rule as to how it should be done. Other professional sports have matured in this respect whereas baseball has not. Hockey players raise their sticks after a goal, slide along the ice, and have group hugs. Soccer players following a goal sprint madly, slide on the grass, pump their fists. Football players spike the ball after a touchdown or go into creative dances that could be used with the Chicken Dance music. Basketball players after a dunk pound their chests, pump their fists, shout or pull on their jerseys bearing the team logo. All of these sports allow a celebration of an accomplishment. Members of the opposing team probably do not like the celebrations but can also do so when their time comes.

At the same time pitchers, especially closers, go through all kinds of celebrations. They charge off the mound after the final out, pump their fists, grimace, shout, punch the air on a strikeout or go into a Jonathan Papelbon type celebration. Others jump and land in a pseudo-Sumo Wrestler squat. The batter simply walks away not chirping about being disrespected. Why it is the pitcher can celebrate his achievement but the batter cannot if he happens to hit a home run?

On a walk off hit all players on the winning team flock to the plate while opponents are still on the field and go into a wild Kendrys Morales dance with players jumping up and down wildly. How is that showing respect to an opponent who may have to walk around the dance to get to his dugout?

On April 20th the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh pirates has a bench clearing rhubarb when Gerrit Cole of the Pirates took exception to the manner in which Brewer center fielder Carlos Gomez left the batter’s box after crushing one of his pitches to center field. The problems started when Gomez paused at the plate and flipped his bat to watch his two-out drive off Cole. A careful look at the video shows a bat flip that is of the little league variety compared to Yasiel Puig’s now famous or infamous bat flip. Gomez did not sprint out of the box nor did he dilly-dally.

As a result of the brouhaha Travis Snider and Russell Martin of the Pirates as well as Martin Maldonado and Carlos Gomez of the Brewers received suspensions of varying lengths, each claiming they were unfair.

Gomez said he thought the ball would be caught. Instead, it hit the wall and he sped into third base, making a headfirst slide for a triple.

Cole, who was near third base backing up the play, stormed toward Gomez and they exchanged words. Cole said he told Gomez: “If you’re going to hit it out of the ballpark, then you can stop and look at it. But it you’re going to hit just a fly ball to center field, then don’t stand and look at it.”  How often has a hitter been found to be in violation of an unwritten rule for admiring a triple?

During a Friday, May 9th game Yasiel Puig homered in the sixth inning against the Giant’s Madison Bumgarner. After crushing the ball Puig flipped his bat and not with a Carlos Gomez little league flip. He ran the bases in what seemed to be a reasonable amount of time only to find Bumgarner waiting in the home plate area. We expect it was not to “congratulate” him on his swing. Words were exchanged, probably one in English and one in Spanish but both sides cooled down without a bench clearing brawl as in the Brewers-Pirates game.

There was noting excessive about Puig’s bat flip after hitting this May 9 home run off of Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner…

…but apparently Bumgarner didn’t see it that way and felt compelled to confronted Puig about it.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo & Ron Cervenka)

Interestingly enough the two managers have a bit of a different take on these kinds of incidents.

“I think we all know what caused it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “Like any competitors, these guys just [are], you know, a little upset at times when they think they’re getting shown up. It’s just part of our game. The bat flips and that stuff, a lot of pitchers are getting upset.”

“Guys play with emotion, and that can get on your nerves,” said Mattingly. “Gomez plays with a lot of fire, and it rubs people the wrong way. Every team has guys that bug you. It’s just the way it is. Puig is a guy on our team, he draws as much attention as anybody. But it’s a little silly. You can still be respectful of your opponent and carry yourself with class.

“I do think we have to loosen up a bit or there will be more and more times that guys take offense. I’m not talking about the Giants. It’s all around baseball,” added the Dodgers skipper.

Pitchers are getting upset. There’s an easy solution to that. Don’t groove a pitch or at least take responsibility for it. I agree with Don Mattingly – loosen up. It is a kid’s game but is being played by adults. Get over the taking my ball and going home mindset.

Yasiel Puig is presently the master of the bat flip, something he has always done. I hope he continues to flip the bat high and far. First, that means his home run parade will continue. Secondly, he may well help the game mature as pitchers begin to recognize it for what it is – a bat flip. It is not designed to disrespect them in any way. It is simply an easy way for a kid who escaped from Cuba to get rid of the bat quickly at the top of his home run follow through. He didn’t arrive in the United States on the Good Ship Lollipop. He risked his life to follow his dream of playing major league baseball. Pitchers give themselves far too much credit if they actually believe he needs to show them up by a bat flip. They have already done that by allowing a Puig “monster shot” especially on his favorite pitch which is the first one in an at bat.

Keep on “flippin” Yasiel!