"It is hard not to root for Yan when you see his joyous celebration."
No, it's quite easy not to root for a guy who celebrates a strikeout in a meaningless August contest like he just won Game 7 of the World Series. Fun? Pennant races are fun. Winning 90+ games, that's fun. Clowns are fun, too. But only at the circus, not on the mound.
Look, 20 or more years ago, his antics would not be well received and the Mets would have been retaliated against big time.
Times have changed. Sure there will be consequences when you do things like this and get lit up, but as long as he is more focused on the job (getting people out) and not on the celebration I’m ok with it.
Times have changed, I've heard that. Some of the things that have changed are for the better and some of the things have made things worse. Displaying disrespect for the other team is one. Not running out ground balls is another. Standing at the plate and watching your maybe homer/maybe double off the wall (Soto) is another.
I don’t view this as disrespect for the opponent though. It’s exuberance. It’s passion for what he’s doing which isn’t the same as him doing it for negative reasons. He doesn’t gesture towards the opposition. Sure, there might be consequences for this at some point. But it’s no where in the same category of not running out grounders or staying in the batters box and watching balls that you drive that may or may not clear the fence
Exuberance is spontaneous, even impulsive. An adrenaline release. This is choreographed, theatrical and rehearsed. You might excuse if it happened in a critical game situation like getting out of a bases loaded jam, or striking out the other team's best hitter to end a game. To do it for a strikeout in a meaningless game with nothin on the line is just look-at-me nonsense. If your ten-year-old kid did it in a Little League game, you'd give him a stern talking to on the ride home.
I would think he shouldn't do it because of the risk of injury is increased. Each and every strikeout is a bit much. Perhaps with the third out of an inning would be appropriate. Let's hope he can just do his job.
Yan is exciting to watch when he is pitching but the antics after a strikeout are disrespectful to the other team. Let's see how he handles it when the other team lights him up and pulls similar nonsense.
Yan is yet another flash in the pan, a sideshow for this trainwreck season. I suspect his act will get toned down before he goes off to Banana Ball.
The bigger story here is what has happened to Francisco Lindor. The Lindor we are seeing lately bears little resemblance to what we know of him. He seems troubled - don't know if that is baseball related or something else, but he's a different guy - and the smile is gone, along with his considerable baseball skills.
With Soto on the rack, the Mets could use a healthy and happy Lindor but that clearly isn't happening.
"...no doubt delighted those Mets fans watching..."? Unless those Mets fans think having some respect for the other team is a good thing. It's unlikely Mr. Yan would think it's a pile of fun if a batter does the world's slowest home run trot the next time he gives one up. Or better yet, maybe the batter can mimic Yan's childish antics if he works out a walk.
"It is hard not to root for Yan when you see his joyous celebration."
No, it's quite easy not to root for a guy who celebrates a strikeout in a meaningless August contest like he just won Game 7 of the World Series. Fun? Pennant races are fun. Winning 90+ games, that's fun. Clowns are fun, too. But only at the circus, not on the mound.
You hit the nail on the head, thanks.
Look, 20 or more years ago, his antics would not be well received and the Mets would have been retaliated against big time.
Times have changed. Sure there will be consequences when you do things like this and get lit up, but as long as he is more focused on the job (getting people out) and not on the celebration I’m ok with it.
Times have changed, I've heard that. Some of the things that have changed are for the better and some of the things have made things worse. Displaying disrespect for the other team is one. Not running out ground balls is another. Standing at the plate and watching your maybe homer/maybe double off the wall (Soto) is another.
I don’t view this as disrespect for the opponent though. It’s exuberance. It’s passion for what he’s doing which isn’t the same as him doing it for negative reasons. He doesn’t gesture towards the opposition. Sure, there might be consequences for this at some point. But it’s no where in the same category of not running out grounders or staying in the batters box and watching balls that you drive that may or may not clear the fence
Exuberance is spontaneous, even impulsive. An adrenaline release. This is choreographed, theatrical and rehearsed. You might excuse if it happened in a critical game situation like getting out of a bases loaded jam, or striking out the other team's best hitter to end a game. To do it for a strikeout in a meaningless game with nothin on the line is just look-at-me nonsense. If your ten-year-old kid did it in a Little League game, you'd give him a stern talking to on the ride home.
I would think he shouldn't do it because of the risk of injury is increased. Each and every strikeout is a bit much. Perhaps with the third out of an inning would be appropriate. Let's hope he can just do his job.
Yan is exciting to watch when he is pitching but the antics after a strikeout are disrespectful to the other team. Let's see how he handles it when the other team lights him up and pulls similar nonsense.
I'd love to see someone take him deep, touch home plate, and do his "celly."
Baseball is entertainment. And it's entertaining when Yan does his thing. Same with bat flips.
Now, ask me about hands-first sliding. Dangerous.
Also the "ghost runner" at 2B. Stupid.
Or wearing sunglasses atop your cap? Ridiculous.
How about "framing" pitches a foot off homeplate? Nonsensical. And increasing passed balls.
Etc.
Yan is yet another flash in the pan, a sideshow for this trainwreck season. I suspect his act will get toned down before he goes off to Banana Ball.
The bigger story here is what has happened to Francisco Lindor. The Lindor we are seeing lately bears little resemblance to what we know of him. He seems troubled - don't know if that is baseball related or something else, but he's a different guy - and the smile is gone, along with his considerable baseball skills.
With Soto on the rack, the Mets could use a healthy and happy Lindor but that clearly isn't happening.
Time for a sit down - and not with Soto.
"...no doubt delighted those Mets fans watching..."? Unless those Mets fans think having some respect for the other team is a good thing. It's unlikely Mr. Yan would think it's a pile of fun if a batter does the world's slowest home run trot the next time he gives one up. Or better yet, maybe the batter can mimic Yan's childish antics if he works out a walk.