Harper's bat flip last night...

[06hawkalum]

...was a thing of beauty

https://twitter.com/_rone/status/111...974685696?s=19

[slag]

I'm enjoying Harper's start as much as anyone here ... but if I was pitching for the Nationals he'd be smelling a baseball tonight.

And you know damn good and well that if Jason Werth had done that on his return to CBP you'd want one of the Phillies pitchers to do what I just wrote the next time he came to the plate.

[06hawkalum]

Eh, I think Harper will take that trade-off. He knows exactly what he is doing...drinking the Nats' milkshake.

[slag]

Yeah he knows very few pitchers make hitters pay for it anymore.

[06hawkalum]

Yeah he knows very few pitchers make hitters pay for it anymore.

Yep, it's all in good fun and part of the game now. Helps amp up the crowd and attract younger fans, just like end zone celebrations.

Let the kids play!

[slag]

It's bush league horseshit ... you'd coach Little Leaguers to do that?

[06hawkalum]

Do Pop Warner coaches teach their kids end zone celebrations?

People hated on Deion Sanders for "showboating," now it is fully embraced by the league and their fans.

The same transformation has been taking place in baseball over the past decade.

Again, pitchers don't take this stuff personally any longer because their own teammates are doing the same thing.

[slag]

The fuck are you talking about?

I know ZERO youth league coaches with any class who teach in you face celebrations.

But the kids still do it because they see that sportsmanship has left the building when they watch tv.

It appears you're one of the drivers out there that makes me wish I had James Bond machine guns in my headlights.

[06hawkalum]

I get it, you're old school. That's fine. Norms change all the time and older generations always get salty about those changes. It's as predictable as death and taxes.

::shakes fist at Elvis shaking his hips::

[nerd]

The fuck are you talking about?

I know ZERO youth league coaches with any class who teach in you face celebrations.

But the kids still do it because they see that sportsmanship has left the building when they watch tv.

It appears you're one of the drivers out there that makes me wish I had James Bond machine guns in my headlights.

at first the bat flip used to bother me but it's not going away so I've stopped caring too much about it. Rhys even said that after he got hit (about the celebrations and bat flips) that if the pitcher doesn't like it then they shouldn't give up the homer run or the hit.

That's sort of where it's gone to now.

[JuTMSY4]

lol

[T.D-Bag]

The fuck are you talking about?
I know ZERO youth league coaches with any class who teach in you face celebrations.

[Susquehanna Birder]

at first the bat flip used to bother me but it's not going away so I've stopped caring too much about it.

I don't normally like it if it's just showboating. But Harper's was a response to the crowd, and it was perfect for the occasion.

[slag]

You don't think his gyrations and pointing to the Phillies fans in right field after his double and single were enough in-your-face antics for the night so that he needed to flip his bat after a homer with a 4 run lead in the 8th with 10 people left in the park?

[nerd]

You don't think his gyrations and pointing to the Phillies fans in right field after his double and single were enough in-your-face antics for the night so that he needed to flip his bat after a homer with a 4 run lead in the 8th with 10 people left in the park?

That's the league though and I'll tell you what, baseball is loving it right now because it is all over twitter and sports shows.

Baseball has had a huge image problem because it's thought of as "boring" and "not fun". Be it right or wrong, Harper and the phillies are the talk of the league right now. For their dancing, celebrations, bat flips and their play.

It's really early but it kind of reminds me of the 2017 eagles. Of course things could go completely in the sh!tter but other teams and fans hated them because of their dances.

The teams response to that was basically, "if you don't like it, stop us" and nobody really did.