04/19/24
October 28, 2015
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Wow. Even though different reasons in each case, now it's a trend. Wonder who's next. Bill Snyder has probably thought about it at some point in the last couple of weeks. Frank Beamer looked awful on the sidelines recently, but he seems to be hanging in there.
If this keeps up, the next step in the progression will be:
"Mark Mangino hired as head coach, effective immediately".
(shudder)
posted by beaverboard at 09:14 AM on October 28, 2015
Did anyone in the press get Sam Dyson's reaction to Eric Hosmer's bat flip on the game-winning sac fly? I have to know if Hosmer is playing the game the right way by doing a bat flip on a ball that was caught by the outfielder, and Dyson seems to be the arbiter of class.
posted by grum@work at 10:37 AM on October 28, 2015
Rather than trying to establish what situations justify bat flips why don't we all just realize the act is complete douche baggery in all situations.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:42 AM on October 28, 2015
Rather than trying to establish what situations justify bat flips why don't we all just realize the act is complete douche baggery in all situations.
Pass. Celebration of success shouldn't be considered "douche baggery", if it's a legitimately impressive feat or important moment.
Was Carlos Delgado's bat flip after hitting his 4th HR of the game a "douche bag" thing to do? (Note: The ball was hit SO HARD that hit it ABOVE the restaurant's facing windows, and bounced UP.) It's only happened 16 times in baseball history. Can he celebrate that moment?
What makes a bat flip a "douche bag" move, but fist pumping and celebrating running around the bases perfectly okay? Joe Carter? Kirk Gibson? Douche bags?
posted by grum@work at 11:34 AM on October 28, 2015
Hosmer looked silly carrying the bat for so long while he walked down the line. I give that a 4 out of 10 on Flipping with the Stars.
posted by rcade at 01:22 PM on October 28, 2015
the act is complete douche baggery in all situations
Pfft.
posted by yerfatma at 01:47 PM on October 28, 2015
We all have our own opinions.
Genuine celebrations of big plays - Gibson, Carter, Papi are good examples - are awesome.
The bat flipping deal isn't genuine and is pure douche baggery.
It's not celebration. It's a pose. And it shows no respect for the game or the opponent.
posted by cixelsyd at 02:45 PM on October 28, 2015
Michael Jordan's Mansion Wants You To Buy It, Mocks Other Weakling Mansions
posted by tommybiden at 02:52 PM on October 28, 2015
Genuine celebrations of big plays - Gibson, Carter, Papi are good examples - are awesome.
So Bautista's "Bat Flip Heard 'Round the World" in the ALDS Game 5 wasn't a "celebration of a big play"?
posted by grum@work at 03:08 PM on October 28, 2015
I think Bautista's flip was spontaneous. It was also a dagger to my heart. A dagger!
posted by rcade at 05:32 PM on October 28, 2015
I agree, his flip seemed completely real and unscripted - almost feral. It was an elemental gesture, but I don't blame the Rangers for taking exception to it. If he had done that on the road, it would have been more objectionable.
The bat flip and home run trot is such a solitary moment for a scoring player compared to what happens in other team sports with the immediate congratulatory mobbing after a huge play.
The home run batter doesn't connect with a teammate until he gets to his first base coach and gets a brief hurrah. Then doesn't get the full team treatment until he touches home plate. It's an interlude of many long seconds for the individual player to show his unvarnished reaction to what he has just done without input from anyone else.
Not everyone is equipped with the intangibles to properly occupy that spotlight, regardless of their athletic ability. What Bautista did was so electrically huge that I couldn't bring myself to complain about the sportsmanship aspect of the flip. By comparison, watching NFL wideouts screwing around with Sharpies and cell phones after they score - that's when you want to see a live buffalo or horse mascot chase the player around the field until they swear they'll never do that again.
posted by beaverboard at 08:18 PM on October 28, 2015
Michael Jordan's Mansion Wants You To Buy It, Mocks Other Weakling Mansions
That really is a nice goddamn mansion.
Way too big to be useful for anyone other than a large multi-generational family living together, but it would be fun to visit.
(There are some OLD TVs in that house, however. Gotta upgrade those first.)
posted by grum@work at 08:15 AM on October 29, 2015
The bat flipping deal isn't genuine
Ah, got it. I don't have an insight into the players' minds myself so I just have to take their actions as evidence of how they feel.
There is no real substitute/ For a ball struck squarely and firmly
posted by yerfatma at 08:16 AM on October 29, 2015
Jerry Kill retires from Minnesota, effective immediately. "Health reasons" given, likely due to Kill's epilepsy.