Quote:
Originally Posted by todeen
I don't know. I don't think I've ever said "I'm so in love with this game because XYZ never offends anyone."
I started watching baseball in 1990s. People were saying Griffey was horrible for wearing his hat backward. Griffey is the undeniable favorite modern player for collectors.
Today, there is just something about watching Elly de la Cruz. He is young, a diamond in the rough, but he is bringing people to baseball. His bat flips, eagerness, smile, it's contagious. I've worn Reds hats and jerseys for years. Nobody cared. Now random people walk past me and stop me to say things. And it's no longer, "Are you a Chicago Bears fan?"
Shohei Ohtani is just boring, regardless of his talent. Rickey being Rickey made people love him or hate him.
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The problem now is that Rickey Henderson would be very tame in comparison to some players. He wouldn't be flashy now, he'd be average. Some of these celebrations we see now are somewhere between obnoxious and childish. Grown men have choreographed dances for home runs and take 35 seconds to get through it. One of the craziest things people say is let them have fun, as if hitting a Major League home run isn't fun. As if celebrating a home run with your teammates isn't fun. A lot of the celebrations just show a lack of respect for the opponents. No one wants a league full of guys acting like Jesse Winkler, but we could be headed that way.
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Please check out my books on baseball history. They include the bio of star second baseman Dots Miller. A book featuring 20 Moonlight Graham players who got into just one game. Another with 13 players who were with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the regular season, but never played a game. There's also one about 27 baseball families, as well as a day-by-day look at the worst team in Pittsburgh Pirates history. All five can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-D...hor/B0DH87Q2DS