NEWSLETTER
You didn’t think the bat flipping saga was going to end with Mike Trout, Bruce Harper, Jose Bautista, or this magnificent four-year-old did you?
Ever since Bautista hit this game changing home run in game 5 of the AL Division Series last year, the debate surrounding bat flipping has intensified:
On the one hand, you have players like Bautista and Harper who believe in a hitter’s ability to celebrate however they see fit, and, on the other hand, you have equally-talented prominent members of MLB like Mike Trout calling for some increased dignity, reservation, and respect.
While prominent members argued on both sides of this debate for a while, the AFP (Anti-Flipping Party)* held rank on the “Old School” unwritten rules of the game argument, when Hall of Famer Goose Gossage came out against bat flipping… strongly.
But the tide may be turning once again, because the BFP (Bat Flipping Party)** now has the support of 20-year veteran David Ortiz – and he, too, is quite passionate. Here’s only a tiny part of what he had to say, via Alex Spier of the Boston Globe:
“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] …. 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 …. People need to focus on what is good and what is not. If a player is good, let’s enjoy it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hitter, pitcher, position player. Good players, enjoy it.”
There is so much more. So, so much more. Check out the full article here. And, for the record, Ortiz has a nice long history of being pro-flip:
I don’t suspect to see this issue get any sort of actual acknowledgement or resolution from MLB, because that would make it out to be something so much bigger than it is.
And, the truth is, you might never be able to sway the minds of players who believe that bat flipping is somehow inherently more disrespectful than the number of other celebrations we see pitchers partake in (fist pumping, finger guns, chest pounding, stare-downs, bow and arrows). Which means this is just a debate we’ll have to deal with, for now.
And if you can’t tell by the name of the website (or it’s associated Twitter handle: @flippingbats) we’re in support of the flip. #SaveTheFlip
*The AFP isn’t a real thing, and shame on you for believing it, even for a second.
**The BFP was founded in 2019.
