Bat Flips…

“Let the kids play.” Has become a sort of movement in baseball these days. I guess I’m a bit of a traditionalist, some may say old school. My kids call me a “geezer.”

So normally I’m not a huge fan of the bat flip. When I was a baseball player, another lifetime ago, I might have pimped a home run or two in my career. However, as a coach and manager for many years now in baseball, I don’t love the idea of showing up the other team. I’m all for showing excitement and emotion on the field. I think it’s a wonderful part of the human experience of baseball. But, certain home run celebrations have gotten a little out of control. There is a line of professionalism that shouldn’t be crossed. It seems to be blurred these days and I’m not quite sure if I have the answer to where the line should be drawn.

All that being said, the video above is from the Dominican summer league where I just visited. Our young Cuban second baseman had a big three home home run in the bottom of the eighth to put us ahead. After his bat flip, you can see the emotion in celebration from the players of the dugout. It made me smile. Playing in the Dominican summer is difficult for players. They are away from their families, there are no fans, the days are long, and it is hot! So in this particular situation, I had no problem with his bat flip. He brought joy to his team, his coaches and his hitting coordinator. And the next day, when I asked this young player where he learned that bat flip from, he said I saw a Acuña do it. That also made me smile!

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