Much is being made now about over-zealous homerun celebrations and the reactions they get from the opponents. I first came across this article on mlb.com about the Giants getting “irked” about a couple of homeruns in which teams exhibited in the Giants’ opinion, “unprofessional” behavior.
One was the actions of Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, the other of Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres. Giants starter Brad Penny, who gave up the four-bagger, thought Gonzalez lingered a bit too long, admiring his work before making the trot.
I saw the video of the Gonzalez homer and honestly, I didn’t notice it.
Now, USA Today has picked up on the story. And they have a pretty damning photo of Fielder’s antics to go along with it, too The story is compelling with good examples etc etc..
But it makes me wonder if this story has taken a life of its own. Does it merit this much attention?
Two thoughts that popped into my head regarding this rather unimportant issue (in the grand scheme of things):
One, mlb.com covered this a few days ago. The same news source that recoils at anything controversial. Normally, the cynic in me would surmise that MLB is just trying to perhaps generate controversy/interest/rivalry in the midst of a postseason hunt but the teams involved are not near the top of their division.
Two, god forbid should this story take off to the point that MLB feel that they need to “do something about it”. Professional baseball has enough regulations already and a lot of them range from unnecessary to a hindrance.
Some of you watch more baseball games from different markets than I. Is this really a problem? And why is MLB so worried about it?