Jose Bautista's bat flip is nothing new, proves why celebrating is awesome

Mike Eruzione kissing his teammates. Doug Flutie jumping into the arms of an offensive lineman. Jim Valvano chasing his wolfpack around the court. Jose Bautista’s bat flip. These are some of the greatest moments in sports history. It’s not just the timing and the athletes that rose to the occasion that sold the moment as unreal, it’s the drama and emotion behind these occasions that make them endure.

Sports are all about emotion, for the players and the fans. Unquestionably, our biggest sports icons are the ones that often shown emotion. Perhaps that’s why Michael Jordan resonates so deeply in our culture. Jordan crying on the Larry O’Brien Trophy or hopping over Craig Ehlo are remembered endearingly. We want to connect with our athletes, and in most sports where the players have become almost superhuman in strength and size, one of the only ways of connecting is when they let us in.

Despite a relatively similar stat line over a similar time period, the national discourse still views David Ortiz like he plays for our childhood club whereas Todd Helton is treated like he’s an average ball player. One of the reasons for the difference in attitudes we have towards these players is their personalities. Where Helton is machine-like in his approach to the game, being one of the most subdued players ever, Ortiz is full of passion. There is nothing wrong with the way Helton went about his business, it’s quite admirable actually, but the most memorable Helton moments are when he lost his mind and let us in. His game-clinching pick in the NLCS and his thrown helmet after a walk-off against Takeshi Saito are the lasting images of Helton’s career.

Ortiz at the moment is among one of the five most recognizable players in the sport. The 20-year veteran has had an unbelievable career and is among the most respected sluggers of his generation. Big Papi, known for his antics, is to the bat flip as what George Mikan is to the layup, Ortiz didn’t invent the bat flip but he made it mainstream.

In a recent interview with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe he shared his thoughts on bat flipping:

My daddy told me, when I was 7, ‘Even if I am on the mound teaching the game to you, and you are facing me, try to hurt me. This is competition,'” said Ortiz. “Respect? Respect my [expletive]. I don’t have to respect nobody when I’m between those two lines. I’m trying to beat everybody when I’m between those two lines. This ain’t no crying. There’s no, ‘Let me be concerned about taking you deep.’ No.

People want to talk about old school. I am old school. How many [expletives] are in the game right now who played in 1997 in the big leagues?

Whenever somebody criticizes a power hitter for what we do after we hit a home run, I consider that person someone who is not able to hit a homer ever in his life. Look at who criticizes the power hitters in the game and what we do. It’s either a pitcher or somebody that never played the game. Think about it. You don’t know that feeling. You don’t know what it takes to hit a homer off a guy who throws 95 mph. You don’t know anything about it. And if you don’t know anything about it, [shut up]. [Shut up]. Seriously. If you don’t know anything about it, [shut up], because that is another level.

Of course as a pitcher you’re not going to like it if I take you deep, but after I do it, suck it up, man. Take it like a man. I don’t mind anybody doing anything when you strike me out or get myself out. You’re never going to see me criticizing anybody, because you know what? Whatever you do out there, you just motivate me. You just motivate me. 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]. That’s the way I see it.

Papi is old school, only a few dozen players in MLB history have had longer careers, and he has a point. How many baseball players get an opportunity to hit a home run in the majors? How many players will get a chance to repeat that feat? The answers to both of those questions are; not many humans are lucky enough to experience that feeling.

Bautista said it well in his Players’ Tribune piece:

There have only been roughly 18,000 players in the history of Major League Baseball. How many out of that number have played in a playoff game? One third maybe? I’ve played over 1,400 games, and that was my first playoff series. Out of those 6,000 or so, how many players have been lucky enough to be in a position to change the outcome of a playoff series with one swing? Maybe 10 percent? And how many have succeeded?

Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle who played from 1951 to 1968 was a bit more old school than Ortiz. One local communist used this Mantle quote in a recent column, “after I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.” Despite what Mantle said, video evidence says otherwise:

And of course one of Mantle’s most infamous moments was near the end of his career when he flipped his helmet in frustration.

Maybe that’s why “The Mick” is one of the most beloved figures to ever step foot on the diamond, the 16–time All-Star had flair.

Whether it’s Sammy Sosa hoping after hitting a home run, Dallas Braden crying on Mother’s Day, Kurt Gibson fist pumping, or Lou Gehrig’s speech, it’s the emotion and passion behind the moment that makes them iconic.

Why do we love Muhammad Ali so much? He most likely isn’t the best boxer of all time, statically speaking, but he was by far the most heroic. If a boxer one punch knocked out every one that he stepped into the ring with he’d be existentially boring. It’s the antics, celebrations, drama and personality that make athletes heroic and mythological. Yes, athletes can be heroic, if you define heroism as saving you from boredom.

Where am I going with this?

Sports are supposed to be fun and entertaining. You play sports as a kid for fun, you watch sports now so you can relax. It’s supposed to be break. To have a sport, rules must exist, but to limit non-violet human emotion takes away from the fun which is the entire reason you are involved with the sport in the first place. The curmudgeons that want bat flipping to end are the same people taking the joy out of the game. And when you take the joy out of baseball, you’re taking the purpose away from it. And they are doing so selectively, choosing to ignore countless examples throughout history that poke holes in their principle while suggesting that they are so in the right that physically attacking people with the baseball is warranted and justified.

Professional sports are in the entertainment industry, that’s why the NBA is having so much success, they realize the entertainment is as much of their brand as the actually sport is. Minor League Baseball knows this too. Whereas most in Major League Baseball want to fine Yasiel Puig for his antics rather than recognizing that he is turning thousands of kids in Los Angeles into baseball fans.

Sports are equal parts Bo Jackson climbing the wall in center field and Bo Jackson making the actual catch. It’s always been this way, the old school is Carlton Fisk waving a ball into fair territory. Sports have never lacked passion or flair, it’s a misnomer to call what is the greatest moment in Bautista’s career, “new school.” What Bautista did was primal, it was his natural reaction to accomplishing something he’s spent his entire life working for.

There are unwritten rules in baseball and they should be respected just as there are in every other sport. But the unwritten rules of baseball seem to only be deployed when they’re convenient to use for someone who got their feelings hurt. Respect and sportsmanship are important at all levels of the game. As much as a fist pump by Tiger Woods may inspire a child to be a golfer, an over-the-top celebration by another child who just defeated a child in the sport may ruin that first child’s experience.

Yet the unwritten rule book of baseball and to a larger extent sports in general seems to be adding a new chapter annually. Did anyone criticize Derek Redmond when his father broke every single written and unwritten rule of track and carried him across the finish line?

Do we even know who won the race that Derek Redmond couldn’t finish? Would we even remember Brandi Chastain if she hadn’t ripped off her jersey in front of us after her golden goal? If Craig Consul hadn’t jumped into the air in victory would we know Edgar Renteria World Series winning single like we do?

Bautista himself said it best in his Players’ Tribune piece:

When you’re in that situation, you’re playing a role in a show. I’m not Jose Bautista. I’m the guy trying to be the superhero. I’m coming through. I’m going to make something happen.

For whatever reason, there’s a small section of old-school, my-way-or-the-highway type of people who never want the game to evolve. They’re the dinosaurs who believe that everybody should play the same and act the same. They usually claim that it is out of “respect.”

In my opinion, true respect is about embracing the differences in people’s cultures.

I flipped my bat. I’m human. The emotion got to me. It’s in my DNA. If you think that makes me a jerk, that’s fine. But let’s call it what it is. Let’s not have these loaded conversations about “character” and the integrity of the game every time certain players show emotion in a big moment. That kind of thinking is not just old school. It’s just ignorant.

Nobody had a problem with Joe Carter jumping up and down on the first base line after his iconic home run, so why is that people have taken exception with Bautista’s bat flip? The emotion fueled moment wasn’t anything new to sports. The only thing new to sports is people questioning players character when athletes show their passion for something they’ve worked their entire life towards.