| baseball players are the biggest babies in sports (with the possible exception of shaq), but for another reason altogether
anytime you celebrate doing something good, its considered "showing up the other team". After game 5 of the A's-Red Sox series, Miguel Tejada threw a fit because of Derek Lowe's celebration after closing the game. I watched it happen, and it was not an offensive gesture like the A's and their fans made it out to be.
After Manny Ramirez hit the home run to put the Red Sox up for good, he lightly jogged up the line and pointed to his teammates in the dugout. Manny is a guy with a reputation for not being a team player, and not fitting in with the rest of his teammates. But did the announcers mention the gesture he made to his teammates. or the fact that he was bear-hugging them after he touched home and got to the dugout? no, the announcers were ripping on him for "showing up the other team". and they kept harping on it for a good 5 minutes
Last year, when the Harlem little league team made it to the Little League World Series, they were considered "showboats". They were calling their shots a la Babe Ruth, dancing down the lines after hitting home runs, stuff like that. ESPN interviewed a bunch of major leaguers about it, and almost all of them talked about how thats not a part of baseball, and it was a terrible display of sportsmanship. One player said "there's no place for that in the game of baseball at any level". bear in mind this was around the time the players were threatening to go on strike, because their average salary of $2 million isnt enough.
What those Harlem little leaguers were doing is something major league baseball players need to remember about baseball. It's a game, and they were having FUN. Thats what its about, after all. |