Let me preface this post by saying that I am old. I’m approaching the end of my 56th year on this planet, 47 of which I paid fairly close attention to baseball. I try not to have an old man’s view of the game. I roll with the changes. I try not to be the person yelling about how much better things were in my day, especially since I’ve seen marvelous technological advances in my time. My starting point for most baseball discussions of past and present is that current group of major league players are always the best that ever played.
Two different views of baseball came out today at ESPN. Goose Gossage ranted about how the game has changed for the worse, while Bryce Harper wants to make changes of his own. As an old man myself, I’ve heard this rant countless times from former old players. The players from the 1950s complained about the game of the 1970s. That was repeated with the 60s complaining about the 80s, the 70s complaining about the 90s, and so on and so on.
Gossage takes aim at the nerds in the game:
Gossage began his comments after being asked about reliever Aroldis Chapman, who was scheduled to make his debut for the Yankees on Thursday. Gossage has long lamented how much more difficult it was for relievers in his day, pitching multiple innings instead of the one that specialists of today pitch. Gossage thinks pitch counts have directly led to injuries.
“They have been created from the top, from their computers,” Gossage said. “They are protecting these kids. The first thing a pitcher does when he comes off the mound is ask: ‘How many pitches do I have?’ If I had asked that f—ing question, they would have said: ‘Son, get your ass out there on that mound. If you get tired, we’ll come and get you.'”
Gossage pitched 133 innings in 1977, 134 1/3 innings in 1978, then lost most of 1979 to a thumb injury. He only broke 100 innings after that once, as teams started rolling back on closer innings. I suspect Gossage was unusual in that regard, however.
He also complains about the celebrations of players like Jose Bautista, which brings up to Harper:
HE WANTS TO change the game. He wants to change the perception of baseball players, to become a single-name icon like LeBron and Beckham and Cam. “I don’t know much about Bryce,” says his new manager, Dusty Baker, “but I know he’s one of the hippest kids around.” Harper wants to elevate his sport’s profile through his play, through his fashion, through the charisma of his personality, maybe even through the fascination with the size of the first free agent contract ($400 million? $500 million?) that he’ll sign shortly after his 26th birthday. Is this a prodigy’s natural urge to innovate or a sign of youthful hubris?
“Endorsements, fashion — it’s something baseball doesn’t see,” he says. “In soccer, it’s Beckham or Ronaldo. In basketball, it’s Curry and LeBron. In football, it’s Cam. Football and basketball have such good fashion.”
…
“Baseball’s tired,” he says. “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig — there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.
“Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn’t care. Because you got him. That’s part of the game. It’s not the old feeling — hoorah … if you pimp a homer, I’m going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot … I mean — sorry.”
He stops, looks around. The hell with it, he’s all in.
“If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players — Steph Curry, LeBron James. It’s exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton — I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It’s that flair. The dramatic.”
Harper wants to piss off Gossage. Remember that 1979 Gossage thumb injury? It was due to getting in a fight with a teammate. I agree with him 100% that physical retaliation against a player for an antic needs to be wiped from the game. If a player gets upset after a bad outcome due to the actions of the player on the side of the good outcome, the bad outcome player needs to grow up.
What I do worry about is players starting to celebrate every little thing.
Him: “No, everyone pimps everything down here. Everything: groundball base hit in the four hole: huge bat toss, and wait until you see the antics after homers. It’s unbelievable, I love it. I can’t wait to hit a homer and pimp the hell out of it. The best part is that no one cares. It’s just part of the game down here. The pitchers will do ridiculous fist pumps after strikeouts, and infielders will pimp ground balls. It’s crazy!”
Me: “Seriously, all of that is just part of the game?”
Him: “Yep. Part of the game.”
Jose Bautista’s bat flip worked because it was an emotionally charged moment. Does anyone really want to see a bat flip on a home run when a team is down 5-0? Or on a big celebration on a single up the middle? The late Harvard Crew coach, Harry Parker, was known for not talking. When he did say something, it was such a special moment that everyone paid close attention. If every little play gets a celebration, the big ones won’t matter as much.
That said, I hope Harper is successful. Players should not have to fear physical malice from a celebration, or even just for being a jerk. But celebrating when it doesn’t matter gets old fast.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/1pAgjoc
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