As far as smack talk in baseball goes, the line is fairly blurry. When then-Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista launched the greatest bat flip of all time in the 2015 postseason, his passion was celebrated around the game. When he did it again last year, he caused the benches to clear.
So how much is too much? When does showing up an opponent turn from passionate confidence to excessive arrogance?
I, for one, am a fan of the braggadocio. It makes baseball fun and adds flare to a sport that is mightily struggling to capture and maintain an audience. If a game is going to last four hours, then why not include some excitement?
Already this postseason, the Boston Red Sox have been the recipients of two such in-your-face displays of confidence from opponents. After the New York Yankees beat Boston in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Fenway Park, Yankees star Aaron Judge blasted Sinatra’s “New York, New York” on a boombox outside the Sox clubhouse as the teams left the stadium. Judge received some flack for his cocky scheme, but I took no issue with it. Sure, it was obnoxious. But all Judge did was spice up the rivalry and provide the Sox with the perfect comeback jab when they played the song in their Yankee Stadium visitors’ clubhouse after winning the series.
This week, prior to Tuesday’s American League Championship Series Game 3, Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman posted a video on Instagram of Astros hitters crushing back-to-back-to-back homers off Sox Game 3 starter Nathan Eovaldi in a June 20 start when Eovaldi was with the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a playful exhibition of confidence prior to the big matchup. But Bregman received backlash, and he deleted the video.
Again, I see no issue with Bregman’s ploy. As NBC Boston’s Evan Drellich put it in his column on the topic, “Sports are theater. Don’t limit the drama without good cause.” I agree with Drellich. Bregman is an exciting, young player who just meant to poke fun at Eovaldi by pointing out a past encounter that Eovaldi was likely painfully aware of heading into the game. It wasn’t disrespectful, just some good ol’ fun.
Sox skipper Alex Cora, who is very close with Bregman from his time as the Astros bench coach, pretended to be unaware of both situations. But as a former player himself, I’m sure Cora can’t help but appreciate some clever smack talk when he sees it. If anything, like the Judge episode, Bregman’s video could provide some extra motivation for Eovaldi and the Sox to stick it to the Astros.
“I thought [the post] was good fun,” said Sox utility man Brock Holt in an interview with The Boston Globe. “We saw [the Judge video in the Yankees series] and we knew that if we did what we wanted to do and won the series, we were gonna blast the tune so he could hear it again. It’s just having fun back and forth. I don’t think [Judge] meant anything by it. Same thing with us. We won the series, felt pretty good, and wanted to give a little shot back. We’ll have to think of something where, if this series goes the way we want it, we’ll give Bregman a little shot back.”
Brock hit the nail right on the head. In both scenarios, respected young players presented a lighthearted showing of swagger and simultaneously supplied the Sox with ammunition for revenge. In a game full of young, fun-to-watch stars like Judge and Bregman, baseball should be encouraging this type of personality, not suppressing it. When Bautista threw his bat a dozen feet into the air to celebrate a big home run, he was giving a gift to Major League Baseball: he was playing with his heart on his sleeve. In a game that too often resembles an elitist club of wealthy businessmen, such emotional displays as bat flips, boomboxes and Instagram videos infuse bursts of creativity, passion and competition that is sorely missing.
So bring on the smack talk. Give us more Instagram videos of Astros players crushing Sox starters and vice versa. Show me an Astros stadium sound system blasting “Dirty Water” after a victory. Until these demonstrations of confidence turn into disrespectful, personal or insulting digs at other players or teams, I’m all for it. Baseball could use some more swagger.
Plus, these are grown men being paid tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game. If they can’t handle some spirited trash talk, then they’re in the wrong line of work.
