Should bat flips be encouraged?
The World Baseball Classic has been extremely exciting with many close games, comebacks, and upsets. Those aren’t the only things people have talked about from the games. The enthusiasm, some say over the top enthusiasm, from many of the players have been a topic of discussion.
Baseball has long had the stigma of being a “gentleman’s game”. That players need to be respectful and play the game the “right way”. Some of the reactions by players in the tournament have pushed that stigma to a new limit. The most notable celebrations are bat flips by batters who hit a homerun or a big hit. Are the reactions by the players disrespectful or something that should be encouraged?
Bat flips and other celebrations should be encouraged. There are plenty of baseball fans that believe bat flips and the such are disrespectful. Part of the reason that baseball is considered boring by many iis because of the lack of emotion shown by players. Some players, even when they hit a massive game changing home run, will put their head down and run around the bases with practically no emotion.
Bat flips and other celebrations should be encouraged. When players show emotion, it adds excitement to the game. There’s obviously a limit and if it goes too far is disrespectful. For example, a player who hits a big home run shouldn’t shout at or mock a player on the other team. When running around the bases a player shouldn’t get into the faces of the other players. However, bat flips, fist pumps, etc are great.
Really, something like a bat flip is no different than other things athletes do in other sports. NBA players with an open path to the basket could just lay it in, but usually don’t. Players will do a slam dunk, usually with enthusiasm and emotion. People don’t have problems with that and it helps make the game more exciting. The NFL has the same stuff in touchdown celebrations such as Cam Newton’s Superman celebration or Aaron Rodgers’ championship belt.
Despite what someone thinks about bat flips, extra emotion might be needed for baseball to thrive and compete with other sports. The NFL and NBA have players that are insanely popular and polarizing. Even non NFL and NBA fans know of the players. The average person is much more likely to know of LeBron James or Cam Newton than say Clayton Kershaw. Bryce Harper may be the most talked baseball player and it’s no surprise why. He’s not just a great player, but he is entertaining and a showman. The NBA All Star Game is less of a game of basketball and more of a game of personalities. People know the game won’t be played well, but watch for the personalities. It has helped make NBA so popular. If MLB could grow those personalities, the game may grow and become less boring to the casual sports fan.
Bat flips are pretty tame and are probably less disrespectful than some celebrations by NFL players. In every sport there are equivalent celebrations to bat flips and it helps make the game enjoyable. Bat flips hurt no one and even if some don’t like it, that type of emotion is necessary for the future of baseball.
