The Big Lead

Rob Manfred Thinks Bat Flips Are Good For Baseball

By Ryan Phillips

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Rob Manfred thinks bat flips and expression in baseball are “good for the game” and get people excited and engaged in the sport. Major League Baseball’s commissioner was on ESPN’s Mike & Mike and responded positively to Bryce Harper’s call for more expression and personality in the game.

Manfred was asked specifically about Jose Bautista’s legendary bat flop from the 2015 ALDS. While measured, his response was telling that he is more in line with the latest generation of players:

"“If I were a player, I wouldn’t do that. The fact of the matter is, what he did did not offend me. It was a very, very exciting moment at a point in time of great excitement for that particular franchise, one that hadn’t been a great team for a long time. You know, it’s one of those moments that happens and it’s exciting, people liked it, and probably on balance, it’s good for the game.”"

It’s hard to disagree with Manfred here. The Bautista bat flip probably wouldn’t have been acceptable two decades ago, but in the moment it was kind of awesome. And by “kind of” I mean “incredibly.”

This offseason Harper suggested baseball needed to liven things up because the game was “tired.” He received a decidedly mixed reaction for those comments. Manfred had Harper’s back:

"“I kind of line up with Bryce Harper on this. I think that we’ve got a great generation of young stars coming into the game. And just like Goose (Gossage) and his peers decided certain things were OK, certain things weren’t, this generation is going to define what the game looks like on those topics.”"

Kudos to Manfred for what is essentially a perfect response. That is some serious political posturing and I don’t mean that negatively. He stuck up for his young superstars while also honoring past traditions. He didn’t refer to either in a negative light.

The bottom line here is that personal expression is coming to baseball, whether older fans and players like it or not. It’s time we embrace things like bat flips and stare-downs.