Monday, June 3, 2013

Was Papi's HR Bat-Flip Really Over The Top?

Papi Hurting The Empire's Feelings
After the Red Sox defeated the Empire 3-0 in a rain-shortened game in the Bronx, Will Middlebrooks asked David Ortiz, "What went farther, the ball or the bat flip?" After clouting a monster shot off Hiroki Kuroda, the Boston designated hitter flipped his bat and trotted around the diamond in between the on-rushing raindrops. Some in the Gotham press corps expressed displeasure with the gesture. And out of the swampland that is New York sports talk radio, there were even suggestions of plunking Papi in his next at-bat (Friday, July 19th at Fenway around 7:30 PM if you're keeping score). Have things become so silly in baseball that teams take offense at celebrations of mammoth homeruns? Amazingly, Joe Girardi had the same complaint against Ortiz almost exactly two years ago. Memo to Joe: start winning and you won't have to whine so much.