On March 10, 2016, Goose Gossage gave an interview; the Hall of Fame pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball for twenty-two years starting in 1972, had a whole lot to say. He was known for a good fastball and for pitching high and in on batters. To say he was an old school guy would be an understatement. In his interview, he spoke about Jose Bautista’s bat flip after his ALDS-winning home run against the Texas Rangers. Gossage made his feelings pretty clear, saying “Bautista is a f***ing disgrace to the game.” He spoke on Tim and Sid later in the day, backing up his comments and adding that players today have no respect for anyone or for the game itself. Bautista later responded to the comments.
“He’s a great ambassador for the game… I don’t agree with him,” Bautista said. “I’m disappointed he made those comments, but I’m not going to get into it with him, no matter what he says about me.”
Sounds like a player who has a little bit of respect to me. Todays MLB is all about the young guys. When Derek Jeter retired, he passed on the mantle of the face of the league to Mike Trout, a 24 year old superstar who has already been an All Star four times, is a four-time silver slugger, and owns an AL MVP award. He will likely be an AL MVP finalist for the next 10+ years. Bryce Harper is another young superstar, winning NL MVP honors last year.
The point is, now more than ever before, baseball is becoming a young mans game. They play the game hard, they play it with emotion, and they play it with excitement. I’m not saying they didn’t play with excitement back in the old days, but today it is different. We’ve seen it with football guys; wide receivers have exhibited elaborate touchdown celebrations for years. Now we see baseball players pump their fists and flip their bats with a little more vigor. This is not just hitters showing up pitchers; pitchers who get a big strikeout are constantly pumping their fists, staring down hitters, and jumping up and down. Watch Joba Chamberlain after a big strikeout. It’s simply become part of the game.
Gossage made a mistake when he said that celebrations like Bautista’s were a disgrace to the game, but if that’s how he feels then he is more than entitled to his opinion. I would agree with him if hitters and pitchers celebrated like that all the time. There is a time and place for celebration, but you don’t see Bautista throw his bat after a mid season home run when the Jays are down five. He had just hit the biggest home run of his life, and if you had watched the half inning before, then you would understand the emotion of that particular game. You don’t see pitchers yelling and fist-pumping in games where they are getting blown out. When someone is in a moment of that magnitude, with millions watching them, they react and they get excited, and you can only judge someone’s natural reaction so much.
Bryce Harper also has spoken for the new-school attitude that baseball is developing. Harper said, “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming onto the game now who have flair.”
Harper claims that celebration is part of what makes the game fun: “Yeah you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.”
In my opinion, if you don’t want a guy to flip his bat after a home run, you better get him out; if you don’t want a pitcher to fist pump after they strike you out, you better put the ball in play.
Baseball, like all things in life, is evolving; new players are bigger, faster, and stronger than ever before. The game is getting younger, and baseball needs its viewers to get younger as well. Major League Baseball is in need of excitement, and all of these guys coming in are bringing that. If upsets the old guard, that’s too bad. But the game will continue to evolve long after they are gone, and long after we are gone as well. If that means more fist-pumps, more bat-flips, and more emotion, you better believe I’ll be glued to the TV on Opening Day.
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