Tag: Bat Flips

Little Leaguer Luis Garcia unleashed an absolutely epic bat flip after his LLWS home run

Bat flip of the year?!

While there will always be traditionalists who try to limit personality and showmanship in baseball, the younger generation of ballplayers certainly seems to have the right idea: Baseball is supposed to be fun.

That was on display Tuesday at the Little League World Series.

During his fourth-inning at-bat of a scoreless game between Nicaragua and Panama, Nicaragua’s Luis Garcia launched a no-doubt, three-run home run to left field. And he took in the moment in a way that would make Major League bat flippers like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Tim Anderson proud.

Garcia watched the ball’s entire flight over the wall and with both hands on the bat, he launched it straight up in the air. The trot was just as good.

Amazing.

It’s not too often that these kids get to play baseball on a stage like the Little League World Series, so you just love to see players like Garcia make the most of the whole experience. Fans certainly enjoyed the celebration.

Another college umpire chased after a batter to stop him from admiring a home run

Let the kids play.

For as bad as MLB umpiring has been this season, these past few days of college baseball regionals almost make you appreciate what big-league umpires do out there. It’s been that bad.

On Monday, home plate umpire Perry Costello actually put his hands on East Carolina’s Bryson Worrell to stop him from admiring a huge home run. It was beyond bizarre to see. For one, an umpire should never put his hands on a player — just as a player can’t put his hands on an umpire. On top of that, it’s an umpires job to enforce actual rules — not baseball’s archaic unwritten rules.

Somehow, Costello wasn’t the only fun-hating umpire in the college baseball ranks because umpire Jeff Head almost did the same thing in Maryland’s game against UConn.

As Luke Shliger got the game started with a lead-off home run, Head could be seen running up the first-base line behind the batter to urge him to stop admiring the homer. An unbothered Shliger flipped his bat and made his way around the bases.

To make matters worse, this was the same umpire who made the controversial interference call that helped end Maryland’s season. It was that kind of night for Jeff Head, and baseball fans had seen enough.

Ronald Acuña Jr.’s funny exchange with a Triple-A ump had him bat flipping on a walk

Never change.

We’re getting so, so close to having Ronald Acuña Jr. back in big-league action, and baseball will be better off for it.

Just look at how his rehab assignment is going.

The Atlanta Braves star is down in Triple-A with the Gwinnett Stripers to get some rehab work in after suffering a torn ACL before the All-Star break last season. Acuña, who is expected to return to the Braves in early May, hit a double off the wall in Tuesday’s game. And on Wednesday, he was back to bringing the charisma that baseball sorely missed in his absence.

I mean, the dude bat flipped on a walk.

The sequence happened during Wednesday’s game against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (lol). Acuña took what he thought was Ball 4 and began taking off his gear to make his way to first base. The problem: the home plate umpire called it a strike with a late signal. Acuña was late to realize it was called a strike and had a laugh with the umpire because, well, he’s not going to get upset about a rehab game.

On the next pitch, Acuña waited for actual confirmation from the umpire that it was Ball 4. And you best believe that he unleashed a casual bat flip for a walk.

Major League Baseball needs this man back. Fans thought the sequence was great too.

Context is important for the viral video of an epic college baseball home run celebration

There’s more to the video.

The debate over baseball’s unwritten rules and the proper etiquette for celebrating is basically a common occurrence across all levels of the sport. And that debate was reignited over the weekend thanks to a viral video from NAIA’s Sooner Athletic Conference baseball tournament.

In a Twitter video, we saw a player hit a home run, watch the flight of the ball, turn to his dugout, point at his teammates all before unleashing an overhand bat throw and stomping on the plate as he finished his trot. It was a spectacular celebration by the player, Wayland Baptist’s Gregory Ozuna, but it predictably had some baseball fans upset.

Context, though, is extremely important.

While a viral tweet piled on Ozuna for his showmanship, it ignored why Ozuna was so excited about the home run.

In this game, Wayland Baptist was trailing No. 21 Oklahoma City University by eight runs at one point on Saturday. But Wayland Baptist would chip away at that lead, and Ozuna’s home run in the ninth inning — his first homer since March — gave WBU its first lead of the game and ultimately sent WBU to the conference final.

So, yeah, Ozuna had every right to be pumped. He hit a huge home run in a crucial moment in what already was an emotional, high-stakes game. This wasn’t a solo shot with the team down four runs — it was the biggest home run of his team’s season. His team’s season was on the line.

WBU would end up losing in Sunday’s final round, but that celebration was absolutely warranted.

https://youtu.be/Rf1ugultSr8

 

Dave Roberts had the most ridiculous take on Trent Grisham’s bat flip against Clayton Kershaw

LAME.

In case you haven’t paid much attention to the abbreviated MLB season, the San Diego Padres are now extremely fun. The Padres are second in the league in home runs, fifth in run scored and first in Let The Kids Play™️ attitude.

They hit grand slams on 3-0 pitches in blowouts. They play with flair. And they’re decidedly pro-bat flip.

That evidently got on the nerves of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during Monday’s game in San Diego.

With Trent Grisham at the plate in the sixth inning against Clayton Kershaw, the Padres center fielder launched a game-tying solo home run to right field. And he knew it.

Grisham turned his back, admired the home run and then flipped his bat before starting his trot. As he rounded third base, the Dodgers dugout had some words for Grisham. And, evidently, it came from Roberts.

The Dodgers manager said after the 7-2 loss to San Diego that he took exception with Grisham’s bat flip because it was off of Kershaw — a pitcher who deserves respect. He said via dodgerblue.com:

“I don’t mind guys admiring a homer. Certainly it’s a big game, big hit. Really like the player, but I just felt to stay at home plate, certainly against a guy like Clayton who’s got the respect of everyone in the big leagues and what he’s done in this game, I just took exception to that. I think there’s a certain respect you give a guy if you homer against him.”

Oh, come on.

If anything, hitting a game-tying home run off Kershaw called for that elevated celebration. It was a huge hit against a future Hall of Famer. Grisham shouldn’t need to tone down his happiness because he hit a home run off a great pitcher. It sounds so silly when you try to explain it.

Plus, I don’t recall Roberts being upset with Max Muncy when he told Madison Bumgarner to get a ball out of the ocean after flipping his bat (albeit not an emphatic bat flip) in 2019. If he’s going to preach showing re2pect to a certain pedigree of pitcher, it should go both ways. But, really, that whole concept is dumb, and players should admire home runs and flip bats whenever they want because it’s fun.

To Kershaw’s credit, he said that he didn’t mind Grisham’s celebration. Listen to Kershaw, Dave. Players can celebrate how they want.

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We’ve got our first bat flip of the KBO season and it is glorious

Mo Chang-min smashed a dinger for the NC Dinos in their win over the Samsung Lions.

Professional baseball is BACK. It’s the KBO and it’s playing in the middle of the night here, but who cares? We’ve got pro sports to watch, and we’re going to celebrate that. And why not, in the meantime, celebrate some big ole dingers and bat flips?

A quick caveat just because it’s important: South Korea has successfully limited the spread of COVID-19 due to society-wide testing and strict social distancing measures, which is why they’re able to be back playing pro sports there. We … aren’t that close here in the United States.

Anyway, this highlight comes to us from the opening day of action, when the NC Dinos got their season started off right with a 4-0 win over the Samsung Lions.

The biggest highlight of the game came off back-to-back home runs from the Dinos’ Park Sok-min and Mo Chang-min. The first home run was good, the second — from Mo Chang-min — was an absolute bomb that included a spectacular bat flip.

LOOK UPON IT!

While the announcers were a bit too eager to call it, I’ll admit, it’s exciting. The swing was gorgeous, the home run a certified tater, and the bat flip demonstrative. Sports are BACK!

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