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MLB stars old and new debate the state of today’s game

By Zach Blumenfeld

Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds former player Johnny Bench in honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds former player Johnny Bench in honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Each generation of baseball features it own debates and controversies. Issues like bat flipping dominate the conversation in MLB today, and players past and present are weighing in.

It is a new era of baseball, and like everything else in this world, it has evolved from its origins. It has even changed from the way it was played in the 2000s. Starting with the basics of eliminating collisions at home plate and instant replay, the game of baseball is changing all around us.

But, along with this change comes controversy. There is no way to avoid conflict and controversy as some fans like the “old school” version of baseball and others like the new edition.

The most popular controversy with baseball now seems to be bat flips. Every player and fan has an opinion on this and each person has a slightly different outlook about it. Bryce Harper is a very loud fan of flipping his bat after a home run.

"“Baseball’s tired. It’s a tired sport, because you can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair.”– Bryce Harper"

On the other side, however, you have the old school players like Goose Gossage and Johnny Bench going after the likes of Bryce Harper and Jose Bautista for ‘showing off’ after their at bats.

"“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. If you want to do that, fine. Flip the bat, run around any way you want, but just expect the next time you come up to the plate, you better watching how much you dig into that batter’s box.”– Johnny Bench"

All of this arguing simply begs the question of whether or not baseball needs more ‘swag’ in the game with batters celebrating a big hit or if the pitchers need to retaliate when a hitter does this like Nolan Ryan used to do.

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Despite all of this, no amount of analysis will determine if bat flips are a fleeting trend or if they will become more prominent in the game over the years. It simply depends on the type of players that come up into MLB over the next decade. Will they have the demeanor of Derek Jeter or will they have the showmanship of Bryce Harper?

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