Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is sounding off about bat-flipping, and to no surprise, he’s passionately in favor of it.
On the heels of Goose Gossage calling Jose Bautista “a disgrace to the game” for his bat-flipping antics, Ortiz went on an expletive-filled tirade about bat-flip haters in an interview with The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.
“Whenever somebody criticizes a power hitter for what we do after we hit a home run, I consider that person someone who is not able to hit a homer ever in his life,” Ortiz told the Globe. “Look at who criticizes the power hitters in the game and what we do. It’s either a pitcher or somebody that never played the game. Think about it. You don’t know that feeling. You don’t know what it takes to hit a homer off a guy who throws 95 mph. You don’t know anything about it. And if you don’t know anything about it, [shut up]. [Shut up]. Seriously. If you don’t know anything about it, [shut up], because that is another level.”
Ortiz, through his passion and anger, has a point. It’s an incredible accomplishment to hit home runs at the Major League level, and players should be allowed to celebrate the hits. He brings up the point that pitchers can fist pump for strikeouts, and wonders why it’s so bad for hitters to show the same emotion.
“When you see a pitcher do a fist pump when they strike out any of us, or jumping on the mound, I don’t see anybody talking about that. Nobody’s talking about that. Act the same way when we do a bat flip. It’s emotion. It is, “I got you.” Just like a pitcher does, “I got you,” when they strike (you out). As a hitter, I don’t mind. You got myself out? Good for you. They work hard to do that (expletive). But when I get you, good for me. Period.”
“Of course as a pitcher you’re not going to like it if I take you deep, but after I do it, suck it up, man. Take it like a man. I don’t mind anybody doing anything when you strike me out or get myself out. You’re never going to see me criticizing anybody, because you know what? Whatever you do out there, you just motivate me. You just motivate me. If I take you deep and I pimp the [expletive] out of it, that should be motivation for you to try to get me out in my next at-bat, instead of just talking [expletive]. That’s the way I see it,” he said.
“This game is competition. This ain’t no baby-sitting. There ain’t no crying. When somebody strikes me out, I’m not up there crying, like, ‘Boo-hoo . . . this guy’ . . . No, no, no. There’s none of that. There’s no babysitting in baseball. There’s no babysitting. If you’re going to take it like a baby, I’m going to take [you] deep again. How about that? Take it like a man and make better, quality pitches the next time I face you, and then you get [me] out, and then you do whatever the hell you want. This is competition.”
One of the best moments in all of the 2015 baseball season was Bautista’s incredible postseason bat-flip against the Texas Rangers. The flip captured the emotion and epicness of the moment. Players should be allowed to show some emotion. Like Ortiz mentions, bat-flipping doesn’t hurt anybody, except the egos of old-time players who think ancient rules need to remain the same.
I’m with Ortiz, bat-flipping should be part of the game.
[theScore]
