Bryce Harper. Yasiel Puig. Anyone else who fights against the dumb unwritten rulebook which, apparently, mandates that no fun or expression be had on a baseball field. Those are the men who Sports on Earth’s Tomas Rios hails:
Baseball’s obsession with notions of “class” and “respect” and “tradition” and “endless other vagaries no one cares about” are largely to blame for this static state of affairs. Follow a team for a season and you’ll become intimately familiar not only with the RULES, but the frequent Victorian fainting couch trips that follow transgressions against the RULES. Grown adults flopping about dramatically, back of palm on forehead, reaching for yet another opium calmative -- all because someone has dared sully the gentleman’s game.
I can’t disagree. It is entirely possible to show flair and emotion and have some damn fun without being a bad sport or a bad teammate. As long as you aren’t mocking the opposition (in an absolute sense; not under the dumb codes baseball players have developed) and as long as you aren’t pissing off your teammates, go forth and be demonstrative, my friends.
