Bat Flipping Dilemma

Samuel Anthony, Staff Writer

For over 100 years, bat flipping has been frown upon and has been viewed as “disrespectful” to the game and to the pitcher. The pitcher usually responds to a bat flip with an “unintentional” inside fastball when that player gets up again. It usually hits them, but in some cases, it is thrown behind the batter or near his head. Recently, though, people have been questioning the disrespect of the bat flip and have wondered why this minor celebration is being criticized. And when one thinks about it, bat flipping is not a big deal at all. If a player gets a big hit, why shouldn’t they be able to celebrate their accomplishment? Pitchers do it all the time, and batters don’t complain. It’s mind-boggling that a pitcher thinks a bat flip is disrespectful but throwing a 97 MPH fastball in retaliation is perfectly okay. There is no reason for a pitcher to be mad at a batter for bat flipping. The pitchers made a mistake and were punished. If a pitcher doesn’t want an opposing batter to bat flip when they’re pitching, then they shouldn’t throw a bad pitch. They had a chance to avoid getting bat flipped on, and they failed. Pitchers shouldn’t be mad at the opposing team for bat flipping; they should be mad at themselves for making a mistake.