There was a meaningful game that the Chicago Cubs played against the Atlanta Braves during the final weeks of the regular season where the game reached extras and Braves' outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr recorded his 70th stolen base of the season.
At the time that happened, Chicago Cubs broadcasts Boog Sciambi and Jim Deshaies took issue with Acuna's antics which included picking up second base and holding it in the air for several minutes.
Major League Baseball is a game that needs to be modernized and less robotic as the players continue to show emotion. Sure, it may have been a tad excessive but there shouldn't have been any major issue from the Cubs in regard to what Acuna did.
All this to say that the Braves embarrassed themselves against the Philadelphia Phillies in their National League divisional series. The Braves only garnered one victory against the Phillies and upon the conclusion, Acuna, the emotional "leader" of the Braves, took a cowardly out.
" Sometime after the Braves transitioned again from a 100-plus-win team to postseason mush, but before Ronald Acuña Jr. brushed past waiting media members several times in the clubhouse and eventually walked out the clubhouse with his exit words, “No habla,” at least one Atlanta player struck on something that everybody should think about."Jeff Schultz via The Athletic
It was a sad exit for a team thrived on swagger and charades for most of the season.
All the Braves had to do, if they wanted to know what a true leader looks like, is look across the field and see former Cubs players such as Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos lead a Phillies' clubhouse that is fueled on backing up their talk.
For Acuna, he might remember that game against the Cubs in September forever but the rest of Major League Baseball will remember how he and his teammates crumbled at a time when they actually needed to win. Charades don't win championships.