Myth: It’s Okay to Celebrate a Little After a Homer

When Paul Lo Duca got all pissy with Alex Rodriguez for the way A-Rod flipped his bat and looked for a friend in the dugout after a grand slam Sunday, I found myself immediately thinking that what A-Rod had done was totally benign, and that Lo Duca should understand that he wasn’t trying to “show the pitcher up,” whatever the hell that means.

But after I read Lo Duca’s post game quote about the incident – “He’s a great player…you hit it, you watch it. That’s fine…You don’t toss your bat and look in your dugout and do that. I thought that was disrespectful.” – I decided that I was wrong and Lo Duca was right.

We’ve become conditioned to think that Major League players are within their limits to admire their own work - to be Rickey Henderson and hot dog it a little – because it’s entertaining and it shows us a little of their personalities. It’s not dissimilar to the way managers are conditioned to bring in their closer with two outs in the ninth with the tying run ON DECK, just because the closer will earn a “save” statistic if he gets the final out.

Well BOTH are wrong. Back in the day, managers didn’t manage with an eye on the statistics. And players who stood at home plate watching their ball fly or performed a little stutter-step dance move before touching each base during a home run-trot would get an earful of stitched leather during their next AB. Now, Carlos Zambrano doing his stupid little celebrations after each strikeout is just “Zamby being Zamby,” and Alex Rodriguez’s tossing of his bat is practically a non-issue.

I’m here to say it’s NOT a non-issue. (That's a double-negative: It IS an issue is clearer.) Hit the ball, put your head down, run around the bases, do a closed-fist greeting to the guy who’s batting after you, go into the dugout, get some pats on the hiney, get out of the dugout if you want to wave to the fans, go back in the dugout and get a drink of water, sit down, talk to the hitting coach about what type of pitch it was, get your glove, go back into the field, and stop thinking about yourself.

(Note: I think it’s okay to pump your fist, clap your hands, make the “safe” sign while you’re crossing first base, point with your glove to a teammate that just made a nice play, or throw down the rosin bag after you give up a 523-foot home run. And if you want to point to Jesus after every inning because you think that he cares how many strikeouts you get, do it discretely, do it quickly, but hey, you’re religious, I’ll allow it.)

Other than that, play baseball, and leave the celebrations for after you win the World Series.