Baseball Celebrations will never again be subtle
Baseball Celebrations will never again be subtle
Appreciating playing the game with old school class
It’s not all Joey Bautista’s fault
A friend of mind from high school sent me a note last week regarding a recent article I wrote about Unwritten Rules.
He wrote: “I disagree with some of your thoughts there...I am old school.. honor and professionalism should outweigh stats. When I die, I want people to say, 'he always played the game with class.’”
I’ve been thinking about what he wrote a lot. I think he’s already made an important point. It resonates with me because my friend went to West Point, was an Army helicopter pilot and later became (and still is) an emergency care physician. Honor and professionalism are what he’s all about. It helped me better understand his reaction to my points about changes in baseball’s unwritten rules over the years.
I can relate to this thinking as I grew up in the ‘act like you’ve been there before’ era of professional sports. Being cool and not showing up the opponent was the only way to play. ‘Act like you’ve been there before’ has been attributed to many football folks including the late Joe Paterno and Vince Lombardi. The idea is to exhibit good sportsmanship while helping foster a culture of excellence. When putting together a unit that wishes to excel in a sports arena that’s great. It does not have anything to do with a battlefield.
Celebrating big is not exactly new
HOF writer Tim Kurkjian back in 2008 wrote a piece for ESPN that on-the-field celebrations were here to stay. In the piece he offered this bit from the late HOFer Don Sutton:
"I don't like it -- it is disrespectful to the players and to the game, to showboat," said Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher. "Today, it's about me. It's not about winning teams or competing teams. There's so much individualism in sports. I was told by veteran players coming up: Don't show up your opponent. And I'm not buying the excuse that 'I'm just being me.' That sums it up. It's about me. With some of the contortions today, they have to be rehearsed. They're not spontaneous. If it's spontaneous, emotional, elation, no one would have a problem with that. But today's players need a choreographer for their stunts."
And what would Sutton do if a player flipped a bat after hitting a meaningless homer off him?
"The next time up," Sutton said, "I'd see how many buttons I could take off of his jersey."
What if a hitter did that to Bob Gibson? "Bob would say, 'Next time up, you better dig a big hole in the batter's box because I'm going to bury you.' I heard him say that," said Sutton.
THAT is old school! And long since passed.
Should we blame Joey Bautista?
Ok, that was a cheap shot. Do today’s celebratory bat flips, and vivid demonstrations of emotion disrespect the game and/or opponents? Where was the inflection point? The point at which celebrating your own accomplishment – very demonstrably - was no longer taboo?
Joey ‘Bats’ Bautista took the post-home run celebrations to a new level when for the Blue Jays in the 7th inning of game five of the ALDS in 2015 vs. the Rangers, he hit a pivotal go-ahead three run home run and then flipped his bat in epic fashion. Baseball had bat flippers prior to that but the level of emotion shown was unusual and the clips of that homer went viral. Baseball celebrations have not been the same since.
Pitchers get more into the act of celebration
What is commonplace today in terms of pitchers pumping their fists after a big strikeout or even just a regular old out in a big situation, was not part of the game either. It feels like pitcher celebrations were a response to hitter celebrations which makes sense. If you’re going to go nuts after hitting a game-winning home run, then don’t be annoyed when the pitcher screams out after getting that big out to finish the game.
What can be hard to take is that on field celebrations are not limited to the end of the game. A big hit or strikeout in the seventh inning now generates excitement and outward emotion on the part of the pitcher, hitter, or baserunner.
Players today have bought into celebrating in a big way
One big difference between yesterday’s players and today’s is that the current uber-high-paid professional baseball players better understand that the game is played for the fans than did their predecessors. If Sandy Koufax would’ve fist-pumped after striking out his final batter in a 2-0 World Series game 7 victory, as he did in 1965 vs. the Twins (on two days rest BTW), first the world would have stopped, second his own teammates would have looked at him sideways and the fans in Minnesota might’ve stormed the field! It was not the way the game was played. Instead, Sandy shook the catcher’s hand and walked off the field with his victorious teammates.
What happened to tipping your cap?
The expression ‘tip your cap’ comes from baseball and refers to the acknowledgement of a fine play. That reeks of class to older fans like me. And it WAS classy! At the same time sixty or more years ago, baseball did not have the competition from other sports that it does today. Football celebrations have evolved a long way from handing the ball back to the official and getting patted on the back and shoulders. Ever watch NBA games? The celebrations after dunks and three pointers are an integral part of the fan experience. Tennis players celebrate today in ways that would be foreign to Bjorn Borg and yes, even John McEnroe!
Got to have props!
Homer celebrations include the player donning medals, hats, or standing with a sign like the Mets are doing this year with OMG. Tearing off the player’s jersey after a game-winning hit has also become a regular part of post-game celebrations. Pouring Gatorade over the player’s head apparently did not go far enough.
Things are so far away from what we witnessed in the 1960’s- 2000’s it’s hard to remember how chill most of the baseball celebrations were back then. As a result, I can relate and understand where the indignation comes from when watching some of today’s over-the-top on-field celebrations. As a baseball fan, I’ve become accustomed to it all and it doesn’t bother me when my team is doing the celebrating. When the opponent is going crazy after a game-winner I don’t care for it at all. Just like any fan would.
My friend understands all of this but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. Sometimes I don’t like it either!
About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.
This is more debatable than the unwritten rules debate.
My initial opinion is that if baseball didn't want its players to be so self-centric, then they shouldn't have designed such an individualistic sport. This isn't like basketball. A hitter stands at the plate alone, with nobody there to help him, looking out at a field of players who are all against him. There is no team strategy in baseball as a hitter anymore. A hitter does what is best for themselves, and that is all they do. It used to be more common to 'take one for the team' via something like a sac bunt or an intentional ground ball for a hit and run play, but that type of thing is nearing extinction, not because of individualistic players, but because of the analytical realities of the sport.
In my opinion, this element of the game (that it's just more efficient for hitters to play for themselves than to do any kind of team oriented strategy) makes it more acceptable in this sport to be individualistic as a player than it would be in football or basketball, where players rely on teammates for help. Ironically, this line of reasoning means I'm much more sympathetic for individualism from hitters than pitchers, because unlike hitters, pitchers often rely on the skills of their teammates.
This sympathy I have for baseball individualism brings me to the real point here: that it still has to be about winning. By this I mean players should be themselves when choosing their stance on celebration. I am entirely against these silly dances that players are supposed to do whenever they get a hit, because everybody on the team does it, or the silly dugout HR celebrations that every player is forced to participate in. I'm against all that.
If a player works best being extraverted, and bombastic, and has a big ego, then they should be like that on the field, because holding it in would compromise their optimal mindset, and make them worse as a baseball player. If a player works best by remaining even keeled and keeping their emotions in check all the time, they should be like that on the field.
In short, I wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy that players should be themselves, and stick to the mindset that makes them play the game of baseball at their best. For some this is a bombastic celebration. For others it's a quiet trip around the bases. Let's not paint everybody with the same brush. If a player who performs their best by being stable emotionally all of a sudden whips out a massive bat flip, that's wrong, but if a bombastic personality quietly trots around the bases, that's wrong as well.
True. Glad the postseason begins soon. Should be fun.