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March 26, 2016

Get Off Mike Schmidt's Lawn. And Johnny Bench's. And Goose Gossage's.

Mike Schmidt: "Why do so many players today feel the need to embellish their success with some sort of hand signal to the dugout? What got more attention in last year's postseason than a bat toss by Jose Bautista? Pointing to the sky is child's play compared to that moment in the postseason on national TV. A flagrant disrespect of the opponent like that would have gotten somebody hurt back in the day. ... They are free to display their passion and emotion with certain boundaries ..."

Johnny Bench: "You can flip your bat. We had guys do that ... and the next time up there was chin music. And if you want to play that way, that's fine. Bring back the excitement? OK, we'll bring back the brushback pitch, the knockdown pitch. That's all part of the excitement. ... I know a lot of the old-timers and a lot of people who watched baseball forever would love to see somebody have a little chin music (as retaliation)."

Goose Gossage: "Bautista is a fucking disgrace to the game. He's embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto. [Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing. ... The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it. I'll tell you what has happened, these guys played Rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the fuck they went and they thought they figured the fucking game out. They don't know shit."
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9 comments:

  1. Dr. JeffMarch 27, 2016 at 9:59 AM

    I basically agree that the old timers are out of line, but I also wouldn't like to see NFL-style post-TD dances by home plate after a home run. So is that a slippery slope argument? Also in football, every tackle results in posturing and smack talk. If that started in baseball would you be OK with it?

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  2. allanMarch 27, 2016 at 11:34 AM

    I've often thought that smack talk between pitcher and batter during the AB could be highly entertaining. A pitcher points (a la Eck) at the on-deck hitter: "You're next!" And the batter starts in on the pitcher's mother or something...

    Bench's comment actually wasn't that bad - but I have to wonder how much racism plays in Schmidt's and Gossage's rants.

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  3. allanMarch 27, 2016 at 11:36 AM

    Batters do semi-elaborate celebrations now, but they wait until they are in the dugouts to do the intricate handshakes and pelvis thrusts and whatnot.

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  4. Maxwell HorseMarch 27, 2016 at 8:03 PM

    Gossage comes across as full of shit. Yes, I suppose at the very core of what he said (buried way, way deep) there is worthwhile message. I can imagine a parallel universe in which a former player articulately makes a case for how the game of baseball should remain classy, etc.

    But we don't live in that parallel universe. So we just got the scattershot rantings Gossage gave us. Whatever message about "class" kind of gets diluted when it's delivered peppered with profanities. Also, he's kind of all over the place. It's a fucking disgrace to baseball if batters show emotions. But it's awesome and manly for pitchers to do whatever they want, like knocking down batters. Also, it's super manly to plow into catchers... which you would think has nothing to do with the issue of whether batters should show emotions, but somehow in Gossage's mind, those two completely different things represent opposite sides of the same issue.

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  5. laura kMarch 28, 2016 at 4:41 AM

    So not only is Bautista a fucking disgrace, his actions reflect on all Latin players. Not all players, just the Latin ones, "those guys in Toronto". That right there is enough to dismiss anything this man has to say on the topic. (Whose behaviour reflects on all white players?)

    I don't think there's a worthwhile message buried in there. I think it's phony nostalgia and racism.

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  6. FenFanMarch 28, 2016 at 9:30 AM

    Fisk "waved" his hit fair, then jumped up and down after it struck the left field foul pole in the 1975 World Series. Hendu jumped up and down with excitement when he launched that home run in the 1986 ALCS.

    How do either of these celebrations at the plate differ from Bautista's bat flip in 2015, which people like Gossage and Schmidt seem to forget came in the deciding game of a playoff series?

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  7. allanMarch 28, 2016 at 12:39 PM

    And Gibson pumped his fist as he rounded the bases when he homered off Eck in 1988.

    Maybe these are just fun celebrations and not an attempt to show up the pitcher? I'm just guessing at what someone might say. And are game-winning hits (liker Fisk and Gibson) different than big hits in the 7th and 8th innings?

    I wonder if Gossage ever gave Reggie shit about his act at the plate and told him to tone it down?

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  8. FenFanMarch 28, 2016 at 1:28 PM

    I go back to the situation; it was a crazy, bat shit 7th inning. Texas took the lead in the top of the frame on one of the craziest plays you'll ever see. Then Toronto rallied to score four in the bottom of the frame, capped by Bautista's bomb. Anyone who was void of emotion at that point was either somewhere else or dead.

    I wonder if Gossage ever gave Reggie shit about his act at the plate and told him to tone it down?

    Good question; I was thinking the same thing when I read Goose's comments. I'm sure that it was "a clubhouse matter."

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  9. allanApril 8, 2016 at 1:08 PM

    OTM on Cy Young's 1904 perfect game:
    "Young ended the game by retiring [Rube] Waddell as the final out of the ninth, reportedly yelling, 'How do you like that, you hayseed?' as he sat him down."

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