There was once a time where the feelings of sports fans weren't hurt on a daily basis.
You have to go back quite a while to find a time when social media didn't flip the world on its head over a small ordeal like a fun bat flip.
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When Tom Lawless hit a home run for St. Louis back in 1987 during the World Series and chucked the bat like a stick of dynamite, no one threw a fit about it.
He wasn't a legend of the game, but the man hit a blast and decided to have one as he walked to first base. Lawless looked like a guy who could drink an entire of PBR and take the field like he was ready for a doubleheader. The man got some education from a place called Strong Vincent Middle School. They don't make them like that anymore.
This past week, a game between the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals got a helping of salt when Tim Anderson hit a home run, tossed his bat, and later was hit by a pitch.
The benches cleared, Anderson used some unfit language, and fines and suspensions were handed out. Drama ensued, and a healthy discussion about bat flips and tosses commenced.
The proper sides were taken, creating a line that once again made this little thing a big, polarizing deal that is getting more mileage than necessary.
However, since we are talking about it and I have an opinion about just about everything, here's what I think about hitting a home run and doing something extravagant with the bat.
Part of me wants to be the noble one and say I appreciate a good, timely bat toss or flip.
When Jose Bautista hit a blast in the playoffs a couple years ago, I got a kick out of it. When Albert Pujols would do it after a big home run, I'd revel in it. When Matt Adams made Clayton Kershaw slump to his knees in the playoffs, I felt Busch Stadium shake underneath my feet. I wanted to toss the beer in my hand. I was pumped up.
The timing can be a tricky thing, though.
Anderson hit 20 home runs last year for Chicago and has four this year, so maybe the Royals didn't feel he deserved to do it. After all, it is April. There have been times when opponents hit a big blast off a Cardinal pitcher and they didn't like it.
Do you know what I think? Don't give up a home run next time, pal. Be better. When you are beat over 400 feet, don't even look at the hitter or the landing spot.
No one throws a fit when a pitcher gets a big strikeout late in the game and pumps his fist like a mad man. They love it, shout with him, and get riled up. It's part of the game.
At its lovely essence, baseball is a one on one game. Pitcher against hitter. Sometimes, after a long struggle or disagreement over where a ball should land, an emotional response takes place. It's called being human and that reaction can't be turned off.
Bat flips are adult baseball players having some fun.
A brief return to the childhood days of hitting a long ball, and grabbing a pizza afterwards with the team while you recount the tale. This is a high-paid athlete living in the moment, free of all the hierarchy nonsense that dominates their world once Major League Baseball becomes a part of their lives. They found a way to hit the 96 mile-per-hour moving fastball or devastating slider out of the park. A small victory in a long season of war. Good for them. Celebrate.
It's one thing to toss the bat or flip it, and quite another to shout something at the pitcher or stare him down
Respect should be shown at times, but not as much in a very difficult game. What if hockey players couldn't go crashing into the boards after scoring a goal? What if basketball players could pump their fist after a big dunk or fall away jump shot over the out-stretched arm of an opponent? What if football players couldn't show some emotion after a big catch, tackle, or throw?
It's sports and the last time I checked, human beings play them, so chill out about the bat flip and toss crying game.
Should there be some standard or principle involved? Sure, but don't get too worked up about it.
When in doubt, just re-watch the Lawless toss. That's such a fun moment. The man truly was a lawless player. Follow his lead.