Bryce Harper

[Snapolit1]

“Baseball’s tired,” he says. “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig — there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun."

I think he's pretty spot on. Baseball's history and traditions are awesome, and I love it as much as anybody, but I'm so sick and tired of some stiff smug guy, self-appointed maintainer of decorum of unwritten rules, bitching about how someone threw the wrong pitch up by 7 runs or smiled running around the bases . . . .bla bla bla. I though Bautista's famous bat flip last year was awesome. Let's show some emotion where it's warranted. So much for all these stupid unwritten rules.

[Rich Klein]

Re: Bat Flip

Take a good look at Hosmer's Big Hit in the World Series last year. He had a heck of a bat flip and NO ONE said a word.

[ullmandds]

i agree with the op...baseball needs an adrenaline shot...maybe bryce or some of these other exciting youngsters are the one(s) to do it!

[itjclarke]

I take a slightly different view. I love that there are still plenty of old school enforcers and that there are plenty of younger, flashier players. The clash between the two styles makes for compelling viewing.

I won't begin to argue the merits of baseball's unwritten rules. I think they're so often inconsistent and contradictory, but this rift between old and new does a lot to keep the on field tensions high, which I think further fuels in game/season/rivalry competiveness. I like that there's still at least a little anger left in the game... And an occasional "reason" for a pitcher to knock someone down.

[Mountaineer1999]

Yeah lets turn baseball into the NBA and get some music and lights going between pitches! Maybe even get the Lakers Girls to become Dodgers Girls and work the foul lines. Baseball is fine the way it is.. why does everything need to be recreated? There is plenty of fire and emotion in the game. The NBA stinks, I think the NFL stinks and is boring. Leave baseball alone, why mess with tradition.

[Peter_Spaeth]

The celebrations in other sports especially basketball and football are out of control. Celebrating a damn free throw. Celebrating a layup when your team is down by 25. Or a sack when your team is long since out of the game. Every play, it seems sometimes. I think baseball is the right mix of decorum with the occasional spontaneous demonstration for an appropriately big moment.

[Kco]

I'm a diehard Baseball guy but I am fully for guys being fired up, he's 100% right that the game needs more fire and emotion!

[Hankphenom]

How about just running out your plays, Bryce? That would make me more excited about you. Oh, and baseball is doing better than ever, by the way. If you're bored, please go do something else, it doesn't need you. Really.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer1999

Yeah lets turn baseball into the NBA and get some music and lights going between pitches! Maybe even get the Lakers Girls to become Dodgers Girls and work the foul lines. Baseball is fine the way it is.. why does everything need to be recreated? There is plenty of fire and emotion in the game. The NBA stinks, I think the NFL stinks and is boring. Leave baseball alone, why mess with tradition.

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

How about just running out your plays, Bryce? That would make me more excited about you. Oh, and baseball is doing better than ever, by the way. If you're bored, please go do something else, it doesn't need you. Really.

+1 to both of these comments

[Rich Klein]

Laker Girls coming to Baseball. I'm IN for more viewing