In news that comes as a body blow to baseball and American sports at large, Yasiel Puig says he plans to cut back drastically on the trademark bat flips fans have come to know and love him for.
The Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder told the Los Angeles Times' Dylan Hernandez his bat-flipping detente comes as a response to those who perceive his habit of tossing away the lumber after a long hit as disrespectful.
"I want to show American baseball that I'm not disrespecting the game," Puig said in Spanish. "... I don't [flip my bat] because I lack respect. I do that because of the emotions I have."
The Cuban defector showed fans his new, flip-less side on Monday after homering in the Dodgers' 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. He held the bat out for a flip through force of habit but elected to drop the wood at his side.
It's absurd that Puig—a player in a league that deals with rampant PED usage, petty plunk battles and drunk driving issues on a consistent basis—would feel guilt over his preferred method of discarding a bat. That he's going out of his way to conform to a vocal minority is either a testament to his own desire to please baseball snobs or additional evidence that baseball is a sport that forgot it was a sport.
There are bigger threats to the "sanctity of the game" than a young ballplayer upending his bat in a fit of joy, and, unsurprisingly, fans of Puig and the bat flip are already rallying for its return to his repertoire.
Sarah Wexler, a Dodgers fan and bat-flip enthusiast, has gone as far as making a Change.org petition asking for Puig to "ignore the haters and batflip your heart out."
Wexler writes that bat-flipping is the gift that keeps on giving, and the joyless purists who decry the practice make it all the more satisfying.
Batflipping is exciting. It's entertaining. It's harmless (well, except to those with fragile egos). For some reason, fogies who hate fun hate batflips, which in turn makes them even more fun. ...
You know who disrespects the game? People who believe that "respect" for the game means players should all be stiff, emotionless and, well, entirely uninteresting. People who insist that there's one right way to do things and, in effect, erase the many different baseball cultures throughout the world.
On the bright side, Puig says he may still flip his bat on occasion, if the moment is big enough.
"If it's a big home run or if I'm frustrated because I couldn't connect in my previous at-bats or if I drive in important runs for my team, I might do it," Puig said. "You never know. I can't say I won't do it."
Do it, Puig. I don't care if it's on a dribbler to the pitcher—you grip that bat and flip it up into the troposphere. Baseball needs it.
Dan is on Twitter. Don't be held down by The Man, Yasiel.
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