Let me be clear: there is no problem. Not with Derek Dietrich and his admiration of his home runs. Instead, I do have a problem with the way the Pirates are handling things.
I have mentioned before how I do not care about the celebrations: bat flips, fist pumps, long stares, etc. Bring some fun and energy to the game. The Pirates though, they have decided to handle things in a horrible way. First of all, Archer threw at him, which I thought was stupid. Then Dietrich followed things up by hitting three homers in one game. He stared at all of them. This pissed the Pirates off even more.
So for some reason, Clay Holmes hits Eugenio Suarez the next game. The Reds manager felt it was intentional (I am not sure, but it did look bad). Hitting another player just seems petty. What if it broke his hand? What if Holmes ends up being traded to the Reds? That would be an awkward time.
Seriously, do these players think of that shit? Players move around the league and when they go sign a contract with a new team, they always say things like “this is a business.” Well if it is a business, why would you want to do something that could end another players business chances?
Anyways, after that, John Wehner decided he needed to speak up about Dietrich. He said that Dietrich’s grandfather would be ashamed of him and that he would be rolling in his grave. Wehner knew Dietrich’s grandfather (Steve Demeter) who used to be a minor league coach for the Pirates. What an awful thing to say by John Wehner. Also, he said “I can’t stand the guy.” It would be hilarious if the Pirates signed Dietrich next year and then when he hits a home run and stares at it, hear John say how he loves that guy.
The Pirates are creating a feud with a rival that does not need to exist. The Reds and Pirates obviously do not like each other. But if they start throwing at each other over this stupidity, someone will get hurt. It will not be Dietrich or Colin Moran, instead it will be Josh Bell. Remember the Pirates/D-Backs thing a few years ago? The Pirates hit Goldschmidt (I think he missed the rest of the season) and then they hit Cutch, sending him to the DL (back in those days it was called the disabled list, not the injured list). Two of the best players taken out of the league over an escalation (I feel like the Pirates hit Goldschmidt because the Pirates and Cutch were fed up with teams throwing inside at him).
