People make no sense to me. It is funny how we pick and choose our villains. I mean, it is easy to make a villain out of actual bad people, say murderers, thieves, etc. But why do we insist on making athletes into villains?
Obviously I am talking about Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. I can understand why people dislike both players, but why take everything they do and make it seem like they are these evil human beings?
The other day Harper hit a home run off of Jeremy Hellickson in a game against his former team. Harper was excited and flipped his bat. You would have swore he took a dump on the mound or something. I heard Chris Russo freaking out about it on MLB Network. It was totally unacceptable and unnecessary.
First of all, I do not understand why people get so bent out of shape over a bat flip. No one freaks out when a pitcher goes nuts after a big strikeout. Remember when A.J. Burnett struck out Hanley Ramirez and he told him to “sit the fuck down”? Pirates fan said that Burnett was just a gamer or that he was passionate. Actually I can remember a bunch of times when he would stare guys down or point at them after a big K.
Baseball needs those kind of players. They play with emotion. Pitchers should not be the only ones who get to be excited after a big play. I love seeing a hitter blast one out then have a huge reaction. It does not matter what the situation. Hitting a home run is awesome.
The other big story was Machado committing interference after a pop-up foul. I watched the play a few times and I would not say it was interference. He tossed the bat and jogged past. Since people do not like him, they have this idea that he was doing it to be a jerk. And yet, the other day Freddie Freeman was tugging on Jason Heyward’s pants while he was leading off from first.
Now, no one is claiming that Freeman was interfering with Heyward (although, what if the pitcher dropped the ball at that moment and Heyward went to run?), in fact from what I gathered they are good friends and it was just a funny moment between two ex-teammates. BUT, what if Machado did something like that to Adam Jones? People would be calling it bush league. Saying that he was “what is wrong with the game!”
I also do not understand when fans hold up signs about Harper being a sellout. How often do players take less money? Okay, I can think of a few (actually, Cliff Lee is the main one), but they are definitely rare. I get the Nationals fans being mad that Harper went to Philadelphia, but be angry at the owners for not upping the offer. Remember the good years and now hate him because he plays for a rival. Being mad over the contract is just stupid.
Alright, I am done ranting for today.
