Flipping Out Over Flips; Postseason History Made in 7th Inning of Game 5 ALDS
By Dan Horton
Just because the Atlanta Braves season may be over, doesn’t mean there isn’t still baseball to talk about, or controversy.
To Flip or Not to Flip?
Some folks loved it, for others, not so much. Was it the release of raw emotion, loaded with adrenaline from the previous half inning? Or was it a moment you cringe at because you know an unwritten law had been broken? The bat flip.
I can tell you one person who thought it was uncalled for. Rangers pitcher Sam Dyson. While Dyson’s reaction is understandable, so is Bautista’s. Seriously, this was an inning for the ages.
Anger, frustration, and desperation. Sam Dyson was about to learn just how cruel the baseball gods could be. Was his reaction justified? Did he really need to engage Tulo? Emotions can be a fickle beast in postseason baseball. Benches clear.
Yesterday’s ALDS game 5 between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers was, well, interesting. The Jays wound up winning and advancing to the ALCS to face last year’s AL Champs, the Kansas City Royals. I wanted to sound off on the “Flip Heard ‘Round the World”, and Dyson’s reaction.
The 7th inning alone was a circus. An inadvertent throw back to the pitcher, hitting the bat of Choo, allowing a run to score. Three consecutive errors by Elvis Andrus, who hardly ever makes those kind of mistakes. Then Bautista goes all JoeyBats on Dyson.
I consider myself an old school type of fan and was an old school type of player during my playing days. A lot of fans reacted differently to the antics shown by Jose Bautista after his 3-run bomb sealed the win for the Jays. Sam Dyson isn’t exactly innocent in all of this, either.
Two Wrongs, Don’t make a Right
I can only speak to my reaction, and it is simply this:
On Bautista: This was not your typical bat flip. I’m not a fan of flips anyway, because I think it’s a sign of show-boating and showing up the pitcher and the other team. That being said, THIS was not a bat flip. He straight up threw the bat, and if I’m not mistaken, isn’t the throwing of equipment (to include helmet, bat, and anything worn), grounds for ejection? I think it was cocky and arrogant. Just drop the bat, put your head down, and run. You want to raise a fist in the air in excitement, go for it, but this was over the top, in my opinion, even in the heat of the moment. Heck, I don’t even mind if you watch it alittle bit, as you’re heading to first. You hit a ball that hard, that far, you deserve to admire your own handy work a bit.
On Dyson: I get you were mad, I would have been too if my defense let me down like that. Why though, would you go and fan the flames even more? After Troy Tulowitzki fouled out to end the 7th, why would you walk to the plate and antagonize the issue? Tulo did nothing. As a pitcher, you have to be bigger than the situation, and look to take the high road. You got a problem with what went down, tough. That’s baseball. Instigating a benches clearing situation did nothing to advance the game. Just hang your head, like everyone knew you would, and walk to the dugout.
I can certainly understand the excitement from Bautista, I mean, that was a huge home run to give them the lead. There were still 2 more innings to play. As we had witnessed leading up to that at bat, obviously, anything can happen, and it did.
You can understand Dyson’s frustrations just as much. Being a pitcher, who watches his defense let him down on three consecutive plays, he felt like he had to do it all by himself. Dyson made an emotional pitch and tried to start striking guys out. You can’t pitch on just emotion, especially anger and frustation, because it will kill you. He served up a tater to JoeyBats. It happens. Deal with it and move on.
The Bottom Line
I think the bigger question here is, where was the leadership? Andrus’ first error, stuff happens, and baseballs take weird bounces, got it. After the second error, someone should have called time, walked out to the mound and calmed everyone down. Re-focus everyone and encourage them to get out of the inning. It was only a tie game at that point. Why was nothing done to interrupt the flow of the game and slow down the pace.
The talk of respecting the game may be a bit overblown. Respecting the game is not the issue here. I think this issue is more about emotion, adrenaline, and fate. The baseball gods were on the side of Canada last night. In this game, things always find a way to even themselves out. So whether you love it or hate it, somewhere down the road, karma will show its face again.