What’s the difference between fun and bravado in baseball? Where do the notorious “unwritten rules” come into play? And why do we all seem to hate those who take pride in their level of play?
These questions have been bothering me for the better part of a few seasons now, and the baseball community as a whole seems to be all over the place on the answers to them. The headline-grabbers of the baseball world recently are familiar faces, people like Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw and Paul Goldschmidt. However, this past week has been about Carlos Gomez and Bryce Harper, and Yasiel Puig has already caused some stir this season. Gomez started a brawl in Pittsburgh after admiring what he thought was a home run before the ball fell just short of the wall (the speedster had to settle for one hell of a triple). Harper was benched by manager Matt Williams for lack of hustle, even though Harper’s been dealing with quad problems. And now Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post is claiming that Harper asked to be benched due to his quad injury in a game against Jose Fernandez, in order to preserve a nine-game hitting streak.
Gomez, Harper and Puig have always been criticized for their “flashy” play. They also happen to be exceptional athletes, and very good ballplayers. They also all happen to be young. So, what is it about young, talented, “flashy” players that cause fellow players and some writers to lose their minds?
So much as already been written and spouted about the Gomez incident, so I’ll be brief. For those of you who missed it, Carlos Gomez hit a long fly ball off Gerrit Cole that looked like it was leaving the park, so he flipped his bat and admired it for a while, as ballplayers are wont to do. It’s impossible to talk about this particular fracas without mentioning that the same thing happened to Gomez last year when he hit one out against the Braves and Brian McCann became the game’s unofficial hall monitor. Words were exchanged, as were blows. Interestingly enough, it happened to Fernandez last year when he took time to get a good look at his first big league homer after Chris Johnson had jawed at him earlier in the game. McCann was also behind the plate for that incident, and had words for Fernandez when he reached the plate before the benches cleared.
Gomez, Harper and Puig all play with a balls-to-the-wall style, befitting of their colorful personalities. This seems to alienate some people, especially when combined with Gomez and Puig’s bat-flipping tendencies at the plate. Harper is fairly tame when it comes to admiring his blasts, except for one notable incident last year that caused him to get drilled his next time up, and the benches cleared. The non-Washington team in that game? You guessed it, the Braves. In the video of the incident from MLB.com, you can hear the Washington commentators talk about how Justin Upton took plenty of time the previous night to watch a blast of his own fly, without the Nationals throwing at him during his next at-bat. And in their coverage of the Gomez/Cole incident, MLB Network showed footage from the previous game in which Jose Tabata, Russell Martin and Andrew McCutchen all watch non-homer fly balls go, all without any response from the Brewers.
Now Gomez must conduct himself under a microscope, knowing that any minor thing could result in a media bonanza because, well, he’s Carlos Gomez. The same is true of Harper. Harper has been making national print since high school, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age sixteen with the title “Chosen One” emblazoned next to him. His first games in the majors were analyzed down to the second. That hype machine apparently even extends to Matt Williams. Williams, as the manager, obviously knew about Harper’s quad issues, a perfectly sane reason for not running out a routine ground ball. Yet he was benched anyway. And then when Harper sat out the Fernandez game for the same reason, obviously it was because of a nine game hitting streak that could have potentially been snapped by Fernandez’s A+ pitching.
In the article in which he levies these allegations, Boswell states that when Harper laid down a bunt and “flew” to first base, he “looked fine.” Then when he slammed his helmet down after finishing the day 0-4, it was clearly because the streak had been snapped.
Does anybody actually believe this nonsense? Playing through a quad injury is hard. Maybe Harper “flew” to first base because he had rested it the day before? Maybe he slammed his helmet down because of his 0-4 performance not with the streak in mind, but with the knowledge that his team has been off-kilter since the season began and everyone is looking to him to right the ship? Heaven forbid we approach this stuff rationally.
So what gives? Why are so many ready to criticize every little thing these young stars do?
It seems players, fans and members of the media are split down the middle on these players. One has to wonder if Mike Trout, a member of the same rookie class as Harper, would receive the universal acclaim that he does if he was as exuberant and vocal as the aforementioned players. It’s insanity that everyone turns into the fun police when these guys celebrate their accomplishments. If veterans such as Upton and Ortiz, or even Miguel Cabrera, can be as bombastic as they like without repercussion, why do we latch onto nonsense with younger players? Jayson Werth even recently set the Internet to gushing about how cool his bat flip against Carlos Marmol was. This all seems to have happened somewhat recently too, as you’d be hard-pressed to have found someone criticizing the play of Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr.
It all goes back to the nonsensical “unwritten rules.” If the Braves and Pirates hadn’t taken hypocritical exception to Gomez and Fernandez enjoying themselves, if Matt Williams hadn’t benched Harper for the most idiotic of reasons, and if Yasiel Puig was five years older with five more years of league experience, this wouldn’t be an issue in the media. Then the vitriol carries over to fans, because whatever is said on SportsCenter and Bleacher Report is the word of God. And clearly certain clubhouses care about this stuff more than others. While Gerrit Cole was probably upset he’d nearly given up a home run, you can’t deny that the fact that it was Gomez at the plate probably made it worse. The Braves have created Gomez’s reputation for him, rather than letting his electric defense and bat do the talking. All because he broke some rules that aren’t actually in the rulebook. Is Gomez a hothead? Probably, yes. But this is getting ridiculous.
No other sport is like this. When an NBA player dunks down a guard’s throat, it’s cool. When an NFL player jukes a defender hard and runs it to the end zone and dances for the fans, it’s cool. When you watch a home run fly and you’re under 30, it’s a major problem.
You’ve got to love baseball and all the unwritten rules.
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