Let’s settle this: Was Bautista’s bat flip poor sportsmanship?

25 thoughts on “Let’s settle this: Was Bautista’s bat flip poor sportsmanship?”

1. “Respect the game” — this from a team that capitalized on an error after the home plate ump called time and then acted all smug like they were playing smart ball.

2. Those are the rules. Why would they not take the run? Baseball is a pretty prescriptive sport in terms of the rules so it was a heads up play and hopefully Toronto would do the same as the ump did NOT call time. No need to be butthurt about a correct call, particularly in light of the win. Also, you capitalized on three errors in the bottom of that same inning. Playoff ball; you take whatever runs you get.

   Joey bat’s flip was a little aggressive but awesome at the same time within the context of a wild game. He bats again after that and he likely gets beaned but it never came to that. That’s just baseball and how it goes but unfortunately we’ve got a ton of people who otherwise don’t really care about baseball, which is largely a very traditional sport, and that class came through with all of the idiots throwing garbage on the field. I’m sure 100% of the people who threw sht on the field thought the bat flip was the “sickest” thing that every happened to baseball or whatever stupid analogous term that Drake is currently using.

3. Sure, rules are rules and the play was technically correct, but the ump erred and called time during course of the play and that was never appropriately resolved, IMO. No one is butthurt on this side. And yes, we capitalized on three clear disputed errors, that is the game and we won on it.

   I was all for Joey’s bat flip, yeah it was aggressive, but it was that type of game. I was 100% against throwing stuff on the field, we’re better than that and Jays felt that too. Tulo was appealing for calm and Dyson took the opportunity to, in my opinion, mock him with a tap on the butt — and it looks like Troy felt the same way.

   Hoping for better behaviour in the ALCS!

4. Absolutely! Let’s hope the post-celebration hangover is quite a bit shorter this time ha.

5. Not as bad as the Texas Ranger who wiped his butt with the Jay’s rally towel!

6. It was fine, but better suited to a walkoff. He would have felt pretty silly after if they ended up losing. Not as stupid as Dyson looks whining about it though.

7. no, don’t be a pissy baby

8. I think it was out of line. I’d like to think that we Canadians hold ourselves to a higher level and should expect the same of those hired to represent us.

   From a sports part of view, what kind of jerk would Bautista have looked like if the Rangers rallied back in the eight or ninth? You look at Carter’s hit in 1993; there was a class act and Mitch Williams was a bigger prick than Dyson will ever be and a tougher contest than they had against the Rangers but Carter just took his bases. He celebrated but didn’t showboat.

   If your going to gloat, do it when you win the Pennant, not when you take the lead in the middle of the game.

   As for the fans tossing stuff on the field, that was embarrassing.

9. oh yes him throwing the bat was bad, LOL, just like those good old Canadian hockey players who ride their sticks like a horse half way down the rink after scoring a goal

10. I wonder what Mike thinks about the crowd, 50,000 strong, chanting “You fucked up!” after that poorly handled situation. Still below this standard you speak of?

11. All this Class business everyone is talking about is hypocritical rubbish. America once again, in the hopes of preserving its greatest country on earth crap, through the viewfinder of the American ballpark, thinks a few cans of beer on the field (which I think rallied the team and threw the Rangers off, mind you) puts Canada beneath the cleat soles of the American baseball fan. That attitude is preposterous. If America wasn’t so whipped and terrified of its authority, it would rebel against injustice once in a while rather than calmly go back to their marginalized household, or in this case, overpriced baseball seat. Well done Toronto for standing up to what appears, a little more each game, to be a committee of American Team vs. American Team World Series favour.

12. No it wasn’t. The way Dyson behaved afterwards shows far less class than Jose did. At least Jose can reasonably say he was acting in the moment, and when he was asked to comment on the bat flip and Dyson’s comments afterwards, he declined.
    Dyson on the other hand, just kept jawing well after the game was over and frankly just came across as a sore loser, especially since his whole “respect for the game” nonsense conveniently ignored the antics of his own teammate who wiped his a** with a blue jays rally towel directly in front of the stands over the bullpen in Game 2. I’d love to hear how he thinks crap like that “respects the game”.
    Or perhaps he can enlighten on how he’s respecting the game by:
    1- jawing at Edwin, who was actually trying to settle things down, thereby, further inflaming an already tense inning and
    2. Tapping Tulo on the butt after inducing an inning ending pop-up, after everything else that had gone on that inning (much of which was a direct result of his own actions) and think it would be interpreted as anything except trying to inflame the situation more.
    Just once, I’d love to see one of these “respect the game” losers pull that crap when they win. I’d love to see a guy like pull aside his star player, after a win, a call him out for showboating. Never happens, because the only guys that complain about the “unwritten rules” are on the losing team. Maybe its his way of detracting from the fact that this team (a) coughed up a 2-0 series lead, (b) blew a 2-0 lead in Game 5 with their ace pitching, (c) made 3 consecutive errors in the 7th after being gifted yet another lead, and of course (d) Dyson serving up a no doubt, 3 run HR to cap the comeback.
    If he’s gonna pull the tired old “respect the game” crap, he needs to make sure he’s doing so with clean hands, and frankly, the Jays showed no less “respect for the game” than Texas did.
    Besides, even baseball insiders, who obsess over this kind of thing, aren’t really siding with this clown, because they take his comments for what they are – sour grapes.
    The fact is, it was a tough series, between two good teams that more or less ended in fairly dramatic fashion (Osuna striking out 4 of the 5 guys he faced to seal the win after Jose’s dinger). Whining about respect for the game, after being on the losing end, shows very little of it.

13. I think you’re way off base and just wanted to go on an anti-American rant. It has nothing to do with America and everything to do with respecting the game. America respects it’s sports which is why they kick the sht out of the world in most of them because they take it very seriously.

    Thinking it’s “just a few cans of beer” on the field is a disgusting attitude and it has no place in sports. Anyone that does so should be immediately banned from the stadium for a year. You presumably wouldn’t do that at a concert or any other type of event so why is it okay at a baseball game. What if some idiot in KC beans Bautista with a half full can of beer. It’s not going to hurt him but he shouldn’t have to deal with that sht and I’m sure these same people saying it’s NBD now would be up in arms about it. Last thing we want is our city fan base turning into Philadelphia and I don’t think we want to be known as a bunch of drunken buffoons as the whole baseball world is watching our team.

14. If you say “yes”, then shut up. No one’s giving Cespedes a hard time: https://vine.co/v/eEd0JVbvUb7

    Also, to quote Mike Schurr:
    I understand there are traditionalists and purists and whatever-ists who think that flipping a bat after you hit a home run is bad form, or disrespectful, or something. I disagree. I think it’s awesome, frankly, and if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats, who had that crazy itinerant baseball life and then found a home in Toronto, and who is the soul and beating heart of this team — a team which hasn’t been in the postseason in 22 years and which has brought sports life and sports relevance back to one of the world’s great cities — and whose team went down 0-2 at home to a clearly inferior team and then stormed back on the road and gutted out two big wins and then went back to Toronto, fell behind early, scratched their way back to even, then went down by a run on one of the weirdest plays in postseason history, then loaded the bases on three errors and had a guy forced at home and then only scored one run and had a guy thrown out at second on a single to the outfield … if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats flipping his bat towards his own dugout in a badass and life-affirming and glorious and barbaric yawp of baseball excellence after hitting a home run in that situation, then I feel bad for you. Or you’re a Rangers fan, in which case, well, I still feel bad for you, because your team lost.

    So, again, shut up.

15. Utter bollix if you think that was out of line. It’s sport…not diplomatic representation.

16. We’re not known as a bunch of drunken baffoons. We’re known as an exciting team and fan base that are ALDS champs. I know you’re trying to be the traditional baseball buzzkill guy, but maybe let Toronto enjoy this one eh?

17. Totally agree and don’t want to kill the buzz at all as this is the best thing the city has had going sports-wise in a real long time. It’s fantastic and it’s great to have everyone hopping aboard, let’s just try to minimize hurling beers from the upper deck.

18. Joe Carter would disagree with you and says the bat flip in a post-season game is perfectly acceptable https://twitter.com/JoeCarter_29/status/654634711847858176?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

    Throwing stuff on the field was indeed embarrassing but it was a high-intensity, emotional game so I will hold my judgement on that one.

19. Of course it’s more than okay! It’s pro sports and the exuberance comes with it. Not some stiff upper-lipped Victorian tea social. What next? No spitting, no shouting and er… no running the bases and you’re required to tip-toe in your tutus? Dyson’s such a petty git!

20. Imagine if Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali, and John Macenroe had a talent for baseball and were forced to abide by arbitrary rules of traditionalism. How boring.
    (Double A ball doesn’t quite count for his Heirness)

21. Cuz Cespedes isn’t an everyday a-hole ..

22. Are you kidding me? This isn’t a golf match! And look at de shields lead off dbl of the game he’s not shy celebrating a freaking nothing Dbl. TOR is Jose Beautistas house. If he wants to put his feet up on the table he can. If he wants to piss in the outfield he can. If he wants to flip a freaking bat after being “in my opinion” the most clutch Blue Jay player of all time… Guess what… HE CAN!

23. Why don’t you make the majors and hit a home run and then tell people how they should celebrate it and when they should celebrate it.

24. yeah you sound like a really nice person you should be talking. Jose plays with a fire inside him. He’s been quoted saying things like “when I’m on the field it’s like a battlefield and I’m a warrior and if you’re in my way you’re my enemy.” That’s someone who I want to watch playing a professional sport. And he brings excitement to baseball. Everyone needs to put their hurt feelings aside and man up. Baseball isn’t a pussy sport.

25. Well said. I agree , I was sick to my stomach when I saw that Dyson post game interview. Talk about a guilt trip. He should be saying I blew it I feel like I let my team down not deflecting all the attention on how Jose celebrated it. Be a man suck it up and quit crying to everyone.

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