There’s no easier way to get under the opposing pitchers skin than standing at home plate and watching a ball that had just been drilled towards the outfield bleachers.
This ‘taunt’ has caused those on the mound to not only lash out at the player who just took him deep, but puts the next guy who is due up at the plate in danger. It’s an easy way to get both teams to begin jabbing back and forth until someone says or does the wrong thing – which usually results in the dugouts being cleared for a potential brawl.
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Most fans don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, but there are others (myself included) who believe that it should be wiped from the game completely.
There’s a solid difference between casually jogging on the way to first base after going yard compared to celebrating with teammates in the dugout after you touched home plate.
Now according to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Cubs’ skipper Joe Maddon just so happens to feel the same way when it comes to disliking players who ‘stand to watch’ or ‘pimping’ their own home runs.
"“It’s act like you’ve done it before and you can do it again. The touchdown celebration, all that stuff, pounding your chest after dunking a basketball, all this stuff that’s become part of today’s generation of athletes – whether you agree with it being right or wrong doesn’t matter.” – Maddon via Chicago Tribune."
Welington Castillo – who could still be on the move – hit a game tying home run in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Indians.
Despite the Cubs hitting four home runs in that contest, they would end up losing the game by the final score of 10-6.
"“I would just prefer that our guys would act like they’ve done it before and that they’re going to do it again.” – Maddon."
The Tribune’s own Gordon Wittenmyer noted that second baseman Javier Baez laughed when Welington Castillo asked for Manny Ramirez only because he ‘pimped out’. We can only imagine why he would ask for Ramirez after ‘pimping out’ his home run Tuesday afternoon.
Ramirez, 42, has been known to take a little extra time making his way to first after clearing the fences in his big league career. While ‘Manny was being Manny’ during his active run as a player, Maddon will not condone this sort of behavior from his team.