Here's Your Chance To Weigh In On Bat Flips

[Parker Hageman]

This seems like a divisive topic for whatever reason.

 

Baseball's "old guard" seems to dislike the idea of a player flipping their bat ten feet in the air and disrespects the pitcher. Meanwhile, you have pitchers like the Dodgers' Kanley Jansen who said after the game "You can do whatever you want to if you hit me out, I don’t care. You got me."

 

 

(Then you have Yasiel Puig who went the other direction and overtly set the bat down after glancing at the pitcher.)

 

 

Personally, I love it. I love it so hard. It's a great moment. Baseball is supposed to be fun and, to me, this is a way of expressing that. So, what do you think? Where do you stand on the idea of bat flipping?

[Vanimal46]

Always been for bat flipping. Emotions run high in baseball. Especially the post season. Have fun celebrating a good thing!

 

Most of all, don't plunk the batter on their next PA just because he hit a home run and flipped his bat.

[Mike Sixel]

Always been pro. Very much pro.

[SF Twins Fan]

I'm pro as long as it's a big moment similar to these.  Regular season or post season as long as the game is close I'm fine with it.  If your team is up big with only a few innings left then I don't see the purpose other than to show up the other team.  Basically what Jose Ramirez did a few seasons ago against the Twins.  Also, I'm not a fan of Puig staring down the pitcher right after his homerun.  By all mean pimp the sh*t out of your homerun but don't star down the pitcher.

 

 

Edit:  It's probably easier to celebrate if you're the opposing team because your dugout is on the first base side.

[drjim]

I don't have much problem, especially in high emotional times since as game winners and any playoff situation.

 

I do fear a little, that if the gates open widely for bat flips, the game could become more circus-like than I would prefer, and I'm not especially keen on showing up players or having pre thought out celebrations. Tough balance with the obviously true point that baseball is at its core fun. But spontaneous reactions in big moments strike me as a no brainer.

[Parker Hageman]

 

I'm pro as long as it's a big moment similar to these.  Regular season or post season as long as the game is close I'm fine with it.  If your team is up big with only a few innings left then I don't see the purpose other than to show up the other team.  Basically what Jose Ramirez did a few seasons ago against the Twins.  Also, I'm not a fan of Puig staring down the pitcher right after his homerun.  By all mean pimp the sh*t out of your homerun but don't star down the pitcher.

 

 

Edit:  It's probably easier to celebrate if you're the opposing team because your dugout is on the first base side.

 

Kurt Suzuki seems to be a huge protector of the unwritten rule. In addition to being one of the more animated yellers during the Ramirez pimp job, he was also lecturing Jose Bautista at the end of his home run this year...

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/865212114209824768

[Oldgoat_MN]

Staring down the pitcher crosses the line. Bush league behavior.

If bat flips get common then we'll see a guy flipping his bat after a first inning home run and we'll think that looks stupid.

When the game is on the line? I like the emotion.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Staring down the pitcher crosses the line. Bush league behavior.

If bat flips get common then we'll see a guy flipping his bat after a first inning home run and we'll think that looks stupid.

When the game is on the line? I like the emotion.

 

Who is this "we" you speak of that will think it looks stupid, because I won't. Celebrate! Enjoy life. You only have a couple handfuls of decades here, enjoy the bleep out of them.

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Who is this "we" you speak of that will think it looks stupid, because I won't. Celebrate! Enjoy life. You only have a couple handfuls of decades here, enjoy the bleep out of them.

Fair enough. I should have said ‘I’.
In the NFL I’ve seen where a guy celebrates a touchdown with an elaborate dance. Except that his team is still down by over 20 points and there is almost no time on the clock.
For that player it has ceased to become a team sport.

Bat flips in the bottom of the ninth when still down by 6 runs? OK, but they are celebrating themselves. The team has become secondary.

[nicksaviking]

Kurt Suzuki seems to be a huge protector of the unwritten rule. In addition to being one of the more animated yellers during the Ramirez pimp job, he was also lecturing Jose Bautista at the end of his home run this year...

 

 

https://twitter.com/ParkerHageman/status/865212114209824768

With all the HRs Bautista hit at Target Field you'd think Suzuki would be over it by now.

[USAFChief]

Honest emotion, not disrespectful of the game, or other players? Great.

 

Calculated, "look at me" preening? Disrespectful asshattery? Baseball is better without it.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Honest emotion, not disrespectful of the game, or other players? Great.

Calculated, "look at me" preening? Disrespectful asshattery? Baseball is better without it.

 

that's a fine line, since "disrespectful" has some pretty wide meaning.....but sure, I'm generally in agreement, if old, mostly white, players and coaches can lighten up....

[Guest]

My coaches, including summer camps with Dick Siebert, were mostly concerned with my not hitting anyone when I tossed my bat. Siebert never got near the area code of “Don’t pimp your flip.” Count me among the “Who cares” set.

[Guest]

Always been for bat flipping. Emotions run high in baseball. Especially the post season. Have fun celebrating a good thing!

Most of all, don't plunk the batter on their next PA just because he hit a home run and flipped his bat.

This is a good point. It’s odd that throwing at people is acceptable but celebrating is considered inappropriate.

[Respy]

Just as long as we don't have the Twins sitting down in a circle along the first base line after a homerun to play a game of Duck Duck *Grey Duck.* 

 

Honestly I think that bat flips are immature and childish.  I did it once in middle school and realized how dumb it was.  Act like you've hit a few homeruns before.  But, it's fine if they keep doing it if they want.  I don't think it's any kind of moral attack on the pitcher.  But if you do it, I'm allowed to judge you.  Same as it was my right to judge Randy Moss' behavior with the Vikings.  If there's no rules prohibiting it, do whatever you want.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Just as long as we don't have the Twins sitting down in a circle along the first base line after a homerun to play a game of Duck Duck *Grey Duck.* 

 

Honestly I think that bat flips are immature and childish.  I did it once in middle school and realized how dumb it was.  Act like you've hit a few homeruns before.  But, it's fine if they keep doing it if they want.  I don't think it's any kind of moral attack on the pitcher.  But if you do it, I'm allowed to judge you.  Same as it was my right to judge Randy Moss' behavior with the Vikings.  If there's no rules prohibiting it, do whatever you want.

 

you don't celebrate at work, when you make progress on something, or do something well, or finish something? Tough work environment.

[drjim]

you don't celebrate at work, when you make progress on something, or do something well, or finish something? Tough work environment.

I know when I write a good email I usually flip a bunch of papers off my desk.

[drjim]

Plus, I don't think anyone is ever against high fives or handshakes after a win. There is still plenty of celebrating happening out there.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Plus, I don't think anyone is ever against high fives or handshakes after a win. There is still plenty of celebrating happening out there.

 

you also don't play a competitive sport, with tons of adrenaline and excitement for work....where you fail more than you succeed, and a moment can literally change everything about how you and the people you work with are viewed, now, and thru history, publicly.

[drjim]

you also don't play a competitive sport, with tons of adrenaline and excitement for work....where you fail more than you succeed, and a moment can literally change everything about how you and the people you work with are viewed, now, and thru history, publicly.

I think two things are being thought if here. Bat flips during playoffs and high intensity, which seems mostly thought of and ok, and overall increases throughout the season, which is a little more uncertain and might not be as enjoyable for everyone.

 

Hitting a random HR in June in the 3rd inning strikes me as different than a playoff HR.

[Vanimal46]

 

This is a good point. It’s odd that throwing at people is acceptable but celebrating is considered inappropriate.

 

That's the part that bothers me most about old school vs. new school baseball. Hopefully with the rise of young managers taking over baseball teams throwing at people in retaliation of a home run becomes a thing of the past. 

[Thrylos]

If the old skool has issues with bat flipping should also have issues with pitchers pumping their fists after strikeouts and the such.

[jimmer]

Seems like pitchers can act any way they want but the batters have to follow stupid unwritten rules so as not to hurt the pitchers' feelings.

 

I am pro bat flip. Then again, I am against most old school views in sports.

[USAFChief]

you also don't play a competitive sport, with tons of adrenaline and excitement for work....where you fail more than you succeed, and a moment can literally change everything about how you and the people you work with are viewed, now, and thru history, publicly.

And nobody has a problem with Kirby reacting with great joy after a walk off, or Joe Carter. Nobody. It was joyous, unrehearsed, directed at nobody.

 

Yasiel Puig's "reaction" was exactly the opposite. Zero joy. Calculated. Preplanned. Directed at the pitcher, specifically to taunt.

 

If you like that sort of thing, great. Me? Plant one in his *** next opening day. The game is bigger than Yadiel Puig, and I enjoy watching it more without that crap.

[Respy]

 

Seems like pitchers can act any way they want but the batters have to follow stupid unwritten rules so as not to hurt the pitchers' feelings.

 

I'm cool with pitchers, batters, fielders, anyone being emotional.  It's the physical process of flipping a bat that seems absurd to me.  What if a pitcher made a big strikeout then flung his glove or hat away in celebration?  What if an outfielder made a big catch then spiked the ball and started doing the worm?  That's what I equate bat flips to.

 

 

[Blake]

 

And nobody has a problem with Kirby reacting with great joy after a walk off, or Joe Carter. Nobody. It was joyous, unrehearsed, directed at nobody.

Yasiel Puig's "reaction" was exactly the opposite. Zero joy. Calculated. Preplanned. Directed at the pitcher, specifically to taunt.

If you like that sort of thing, great. Me? Plant one in his *** next opening day. The game is bigger than Yadiel Puig, and I enjoy watching it more without that crap.

I was talking to a rabid Dodgers fan last night and he wasn't all that impressed with Puig. Which I found to be somewhat of a surprise. (There were some rabid Dodger fans in Laughlin last night. I found the evening  to be rather enjoyable later on. Funny how that works. Yeah, I'm pulling for Houston.)

[ashbury]

Being more than a little expert in the art of passive-aggressive behavior, I happened to enjoy Puig's anti-flip upon repeated views.

[biggentleben]

 

And nobody has a problem with Kirby reacting with great joy after a walk off, or Joe Carter. Nobody. It was joyous, unrehearsed, directed at nobody.

Yasiel Puig's "reaction" was exactly the opposite. Zero joy. Calculated. Preplanned. Directed at the pitcher, specifically to taunt.

If you like that sort of thing, great. Me? Plant one in his *** next opening day. The game is bigger than Yadiel Puig, and I enjoy watching it more without that crap.

 

I don't get this at all. I've also seen plenty of the "stare down the pitcher" commentary on what Puig did. He did not stare at the pitcher at all - he watched the home run leave, then looked out to see that the pitcher was looking, and then he placed his bat down.

 

As a pitcher, I was always zeroed in on every hitter individually as an overarching goal of completing the inning, and, further, the game. After that fight with the individual was won or lost, there was a level of exuberance or disappointment. Being able to generate that exuberance into a display at the end of the individual is not "showing up" as much as it could very well be a "tip of the cap" to someone just as well.

 

Puig's background has plenty of people after him, but he's also the guy who was joking with and hugging Javy Baez after the finger wag at second base as well. He's a guy who plays with emotion, but he's learned how to direct that emotion. If a pitcher has previously called out bat flips, he very well may lay down the bat as a point of statement. I have no issue with that whatsoever as he's not starting the fight, he's responding to previous statements.

[biggentleben]

 

I'm cool with pitchers, batters, fielders, anyone being emotional.  It's the physical process of flipping a bat that seems absurd to me.  What if a pitcher made a big strikeout then flung his glove or hat away in celebration?  What if an outfielder made a big catch then spiked the ball and started doing the worm?  That's what I equate bat flips to.

 

That's a ridiculous comparison. Comparing apples and pine cones (well, they both come off of trees, so must be comparable! level of equation).

[biggentleben]

 

I was talking to a rabid Dodgers fan last night and he wasn't all that impressed with Puig. Which I found to be somewhat of a surprise. (There were some rabid Dodger fans in Laughlin last night. I found the evening  to be rather enjoyable later on. Funny how that works. Yeah, I'm pulling for Houston.)

 

Dodger fans are mixed on Puig. You get the old curmudgeons just like you do anywhere else. FWIW, Scully loves him and his enthusiasm for the game. He commented once that Puig reminds him of how Negro League baseball was played - before those same players were forced to conform to "white baseball" code of conduct BS.