"Respecting the Game" is Overrated

If the critics of Carlos Gomez, Yasiel Puig, ect. are correct, and these players are “disrespecting the game,” then those critics need to tell me where and why this “respect of the game”  originated.  The first Greatest Player of All-Time, Ty Cobb, sharpened his spikes so when he slid feet-first, he’d spike the defensive player trying to get him out.  Wasn’t he trying to one-up his opponent?  The unanimous Greatest Player of All-Time, Babe Ruth, pointed into the stands BEFORE THE PITCH to show the pitcher where he was going to hit it.  He wasn’t showing up the pitcher?  Specifically with Gomez and Puig, that’s where this starts and ends, no?  Isn’t it because they “show off”?  They stand to admire a hit a little too long instead of running the bases and petty things like that, isn’t that it?

If what Gomez did against the Pirates is in the wrong, then some of baseball’s greatest moments can be put under the same microscope and every single criticism of Gomez can be applied to these legendary moments.  Surely Kirk Gibson  pumping his fist rounding first was worse than Gomez watching the ball fly a little too long and flipping his bat a little too flipp-y.  How about Carlton Fisk  waving and begging the ball to be fair?  Shouldn’t he have just put his head down and ran the bases? 

Furthermore, was it not “respect for the game” that was (one of the reasons) used as justification for keeping Jackie Robinson and other Negro Leaguers out of baseball?

Come to think of it:  As noted above, Ruth, Gibson, Fisk, and Cobb were all guilty of “disrespecting the game” in a far greater manner than Puig or Gomez; that is, if Puig/Gomez is where you’re setting the standard.  Doesn’t seem the slightest bit odd that (with the possible exception of Bryce Harper) every player that gets hit with “not playing the right way” is a player of a minority ethnicity?  Why’s that?  It’s also always white players that take exception to these guys.  Last year, the Atlanta Braves were the gate-keepers of Baseball Morality.  They (Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman, ect.) took issue with the actions of Gomez and Jose Fernandez for showing them up after getting hits. How come Brian McCann gets to be Baseball Policeman?  Who had the problem with Gomez in Pittsburgh?  Gerrit Cole.

I'm not saying there's anything directly racist going on here, but I am saying there's a culture clash between ways of playing the game, and to say one way is better than the other kinda makes it racist in a round-about way.

There’s obviously a line to be drawn somewhere.  I think we can all agree that the Black Sox and Pete Rose disrespected the game by throwing games or betting on games which they managed.  But to classify showing emotion on the field as “disrespecting the game” is just stupid.  It doesn’t hold any water, and never has.  Anybody who says Gomez/Puig “disrespect the game” either knows nothing about baseball history or is under the illusion that players of baseball past were somehow more moral than today’s players – which is utter nonsense.

If you wanna talk about disrespecting the game, let’s go back to the creation of baseball.  According to Ken Burns’ Baseball documentaries, upon the creation of one of the first organized baseball leagues (the National Association of Baseball Players), the first three rules of the game were:

      1) An umpire was given authority to call balls and strikes
      2) No player was allowed to catch the ball in his cap
      3) Above all, baseball was to remain an amateur game; no player was ever no be paid to play

So if we start at the beginning, getting paid to play was “disrespecting the game.”  That waved bye-bye long ago. 

One thing that irks me with this whole thing is that we’re criticizing a player for showing emotion – for not playing as if they’re robots – and for not acting like “they’ve been there before.”  I don’t know about you, but if I were able to hit a home run in a Major League Baseball game, I’d like to think it’d be as fun the 500th time as it was the first time.  So what the hell is that argument all about?  The other thing is that, if you were to watch a game with these people who preach “act like you’ve been there before,” I’d bet most of them would get as emotional watching their favorite team play as anybody.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe my sports fandom gives me carte blanche to criticize players for things I myself could never, and would never live up to.

All this is to say:  If you’re a big enough fan of baseball, or sports for that matter, and I were a magic genie that granted your wish to play one professional game for your favorite team, I’d bet you would play that one game the same way Carlos Gomez or Yasiel Puig play every game.