Off Topic: Rangers vs Jays
 

Did anyone watch the Rangers vs Blue Jays and see the classless Jay fans throw beer bottles and cans on the field because the umpires made a correct call. In them throwing bottles on the field and into the lower stands, they were hitting women and children with the bottles.

Then Jose Bautista showing how he has ZERO class also watches his homer for like 5 minutes and throws the bat 30 feet away. Texas choked the game with 3 straight errors.

Hopefully blue jays get swept next round because they and their classless fans don't deserve to move on.

"Hopefully blue jays get swept next round"

Hopefully... NOT!

Bautista is a douche, simple as that. I too hope Toronto gets swept.

Must be some closet Elvis Andrus fans here.

I have never seen a team handle success with such little class.

I'm sick of Bautista, Donaldson and Encarnacion. Can u imagine how they will be if they actually win a championship?

Has nothing to do with Andrus. Has to deal with how the jays and their fans made a disgrace of the game tonight. The call at the plate was 100% the correct call. And what do the fans do. Throw bottles and cans on the field, which some of them hit kids.

So if you think thats fine, then I don't know what to say.

Sounds like some Yankee fans are bitter they got beat by the Astros.

Pretty much every fan group has bad apples, believe me the Yankees fans are among the worst, and you guys cheer on your steroid cheater so shut yer yap!!!

I watched the replay. He was pumped up, gave the bat an emphatic flip. Is he supposed to be an emotionless robot?

I don't believe it's possible for a team with David Price in their rotation to win the World Series.

Don't agree with the actions of some fans, that was not cool. But I like the dramatic pauses and bat flips by Encarnacion and Joey Bats on the home runs. There not showing up the pitcher, there doing if for the fans!

Get ready for round II of the Stro-Show!

He consistently does that. I hope if he does that against KC (or the Astros) he gets a fastball in the ear.

I must agree with Moe on this statement!

yah did you ever see the movie 61
 

Didn't a Yankee fan chuck a chair at "his own teams" player.

"A story like thats gotta be true."

Yankee fans and class doesn't really go in the same sentence unless there is "less" behind it.

Unfortunately, you'll have to get used to the classless players with no respect for the game because the bat flip is being glorified and kids are practicing them now. It's sad that so many players have no respect for their fellow baseball players and no sense of history, but that's the SportsCenter generation for you.

I have no idea why players can't just put the bat down and run the bases. I've seen players do it in the past, so it can be done, scientists just have to figure out what has changed.

If they don't, they are going to keep trying to top the last "epic bat flip" which will probably end up in wars between the players with class and respect vs the jerks, except in this day and age, the good guys look like jerks because they defend the game.

It's entertainment. It seemed well within the bounds to me.

Different culture, Sportscenter is part of it to be sure, but I don't think it indicates lack of respect for fellow players or the game. And it's not all that new either, look at Fisk's antics on his game-winner in 1975 for example, or Gibson's fist-pumping trip around the bases in 1988.

All that's left to say is fear the Big Blue Wrecking Crew! If the Jays get the Royals watch out, that series will be something nasty!

paul,
What team do your root for? I'm sure your team has or had a steroid cheater on it also. And today's game has nothing to do with the Yankees and Astros.

I'm partial to the '75 Reds


And a quote from Justin Verlander:

"What an incredible series!! That emotion is what #postseason is all about. Love this game!"


Enjoy it Brock - don't worry about a few beer bottles and a bat flip.

Including Encarnacion and/or Bautista??

Yankee fans
 

.....there's a reason they wear pinSTRIPES

I am not a Jays fan, but I couldn’t blame the reaction of the Toronto Fans, because if they had lost the game on such an absurd play, that would have been a travesty. I don’t condone the bottle throwing – as that was very dangerous – but if I was a Jays fan in those stands I would be going crazy too (we all would whether we thought the call was right or not).

As for Bautista, I enjoyed every second of his stare down and flip - pure entertainment, which is what I tune in for. (but if it was my team he did that against I would hate him and despise his actions ;).) You have to realize the emotion of that moment and the entire game.

As far fans cheering cheaters - every fan for every team does it if the player is on your team. Boston and LA fans cheered Manny Ramirez, SF cheered Bonds, Milwaukee cheers for Braun…and so on…(remember Dodger fans wildly cheering for Ramirez from "Mannywood" in left field even after he was suspended 50 games for PEDs?)

The fact is if they are on your team you cheer pretty much unconditionally (if your team is winning), and if they are on the other team you hate, despise and think of every way to bash them.

Agreed.

what joe said!

Bat flips are awesome. Baseball is fun! Let the players show it! Our game needs kids to love playing and watching it. If the old fogies and traditionalists from my generation and older persist in sucking the enthusiasm out of the players, we all lose as baseball fans.

I love Fernando Rodney for shooting the arrow last night. He showed millions of Cubs fans that the team wasn't afraid of St. Louis. (Even though he scared the hell out of us for doing it before the inning was over.)

I love that Joey Bats got jacked up and flipped his bat dramatically. Hell, he smoked that ball to win the series for the Jays after being down 0-2. It was cathartic if nothing else.

I love seeing grown men act like little boys for playing a game.

Our game is beautiful because it blends players from around the world and brings the best players in the planet to our shores. There are several cultural considerations to be made. Not all cultures act as we do! John Baker, a retired catcher, wrote an excellent article on how on-field celebrations are a part of the game that is lionized in other countries.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-...o-where-061615

When did MLB start allowing bottles in the stadiums?

and....
 

just in case anyone wants it:

BAUTISTA'S HR JERSEY UP FOR AUCTION
MLB's website is auctioning off the jersey Jose Bautista wore during the Blue Jays' Game 5 win over the Rangers. The current bid is $2,000, and bidding will last until Sunday night.

I don't see a problem with someone flipping a bat. Why does a team get so upset that they throw at a batter? Because he "doesn't respect the game"?

Hockey players celebrate every goal, basketball player mug for the cameras after every dunk, but in baseball you can't celebrate a homer?

As for Bautista, he was probably thinking "this is what you get" after that run scored in the top of the 7th. I know I was thinking it. :D

and is it just me or......
 

do these playoff games seem more emotional then ever....I think I read of the teams remaining someone is going to break a drought of a minimum of 22 years (or more), maybe that's partially why.

Couldn't agree more! I'm a Pirates fan and I know when Schwarber hit that monstrous home run in the WC game and stared at it I thought he was a jerk and can't stand him now haha if I was a Cubs fan I would've loved it. Then watching this game as an unbiased fan, it actually got me pumped up when Baitista did that. All about perspective in my opinion!

Jays Fan
 

I am a Jays fan....So how many cans and bottles on the field compared to how many fans were in the stadium??? No excuse for individuals behavior, but there are idiots in every stadium. Really troubling is how CUB fans treated Bartman exactly 12 years ago today. Death threats, escort from the stadium, pictures of him on the big screen...Bartman deserves a medal for handling with as much class as he could muster...Steve there is room for you in Toronto...

Celebration after goals in hockey, fist pumping, slamming into the glass to interact with fans, "riding the stick", throwing off gloves, piling up at center...it is awesome to behold. The other team just pulls up the bootstraps and works harder. No crying...ow about a body check into the opposing teams bench...nobody complains...just stand up, shake it off and play on...

Since when did baseball become golf? Remember boys, there is "no crying in baseball". Even if Encarnacion was getting the fans pumped up (which he wasn't) so what?? Dyson got "Jacked" by Buatista and was :(sad:( that the fans and players were making fun of him?? So he goes over to Encarnacion and says "please stop making fun of me". Soft...

23 years without postseason will get any team and stadium jacked up...

Oh and the play in the top of 7, it was the right call IF...the ump didn't put his hands up and call it dead..pretty straightforward...

Feel free to bring it on. I promise I won't get my feelings hurt...

My personal feelings aside, baseball has a way of policing itself. Bat flips, hopping and other antics have been dealt with accordingly in the past. It will continue to do so. Could you imagine what would have happened to Bautista if he had bat flipped someone like Bob Gibson? Probably would be talking about a stint on the 60-day D.L.

It was the right damn call regardless and Texas just choked and blew the game.
Texas isnt soft, thats just stupid to say.

Texas has had some epic chokes. Nothing in baseball history can really top the 2011 World Series. Just one strike away!

I see nothing wrong with the bat flip by Bautista. Throwing beer cans and bottles by the fans, that is just plain stupid.

PS - Cubs are winning the World Series this year.... Marty McFly said so in Back to the Future 2!!! :)

Tony

we have a bunch of brian mccanns around here...show just a little emotion and you get a dressing down from a scrappy, hard-nosed hustling prewar card collector. instead of doing everything to suppress joy from the game, maybe embrace it so we get more fans/kids into the game?

baseball players and its fanbase are some of the most butthurt, insufferable, and self righteous people out there.

I was at both Mets-Dodgers games in NY and the fans were screaming for Chase Utley's head. Yet there were no bottles or trash thrown onto the field. I can't remember the last time I saw fans do what Toronto's did today.

Where do you draw the line between the "little emotion", the last line you wrote and sportsmanship?

Actually Mets fans do throw beer bottles and batteries:

Former Atlanta Braves closer John Rocker was not a New York Mets fan.He was accused of being racist, homophobic and sexist after his infamous January 2000 Sports Illustrated interview, but it is sometimes forgotten that he also expressed his feeling about the Mets and their fans.

"Nowhere else in the country do people spit at you, throw bottles at you, throw quarters at you, throw batteries at you and say, 'Hey, I did your mother last night — she's a whore.' I talked about what degenerates they were and they proved me right."

When Rocker made his first appearance at Shea Stadium on June 29, more than 700 police officers were at the ball park instead of the usual 60.

There were limits on beer purchases and there was a protective cover over the Atlanta Braves bullpen.

Ouch, that hurts...(oh ya I promised I wouldn't...)

Yes it was the right call but the Ump signaled the Jays to stop playing and let the runner run...he might as well as set a pick...I have to agree that the Jays should have played through the Umps error anyway as the Rangers did. But even without the choking, Bautista still needs to jack it up. Its not like they walked in four...

I just love how a batter seems to "just know" as soon as the ball is off the bat...

Yeah... but Bautista would have never batted.

Regardless of what the ump does there , Odor is going to be safe.

.

Go jays!!!
 

Some of you guys sound so bitter it's funny!

I'm on the fence and would appreciate an answer. Where is the line between emotion and sportsmanship? At what point does bat flips, hand gestures, staring down your opponents, etc. turn to disrespect? Is it charging the mound or something else?

[QUOTE=Mountaineer1999;1461683]Yeah... but Bautista would have never batted."

Yes you are correct. But we could use the "butterfly effect" all the way back to the beginning..I.E. if the first pitch was a ball instead of strike, or player "a" doesn't spit tobacco...then...then...etc.

If Elvis hadn't dropped the ball....twice...but he did...

Every loss in the history of baseball is a choke by the losing team...Not sure how Texas choking takes away from the win by the Jays. Sorry...three straight wins...

Did anyone see that Hot Dog served at Globe life..three feet long topped with a pound of chili and a pound of onions served in a box with handles...I have been hungry ever since...gotta love ballpark hot dogs...

Back to my hockey references, throwing beer bottles in Toronto is not a Canadian thing...at hockey games we just throw weird stuff like teddy bears, hats and squids...yes squids...and then a fist fight breaks out on the ice...The beautiful goonery that is hockey can still be civil...again bad individual fans in Toronto tonight, but mostly civil...

Im not bitter at all. I read through the hockey analogy, a sport where they fight for looking at each other wrong, and had to reply. If the rolls were 100% reversed you Jays fans would be taking the exact opposite side of the argument. You would be hysterical that Fielder flipped his bat and those obnoxious Texas fans throwing bottles on the field!

All argumrnts and discussions aside. I would have to say it was the most entertaining, non Pirate, inning of baseball that ive seen maybe ever.

Depends on your cultural background, your age, and a myriad of other variables. If you didn't see the Baker article I linked earlier in the thread, I would encourage you to check it out. He explains it better than I could.

[quote=marvymelvin;1461695]Correction, Brad, it is Octopus, not squid. And you forgot rubber rats.

Yes but during and after the fight everyone cheers fans and players alike, two minutes in the box, and then on with the game. As for your Fielder reference, I would be pissed he hit the homerun...I just don't get the problem with a bat flip, and watching your hit leave the the park...or getting your fans into it by waving your arms...

Calling someone's mother bad names is wrong though...

BTW, why don't baseball players shake hands at the end of a series like in Basketball and Hockey? Football I understand because there's like 90 of them, but why not baseball? I think they used to, but when did that get lost?

I was thinking the same thing Paul. I don't have a dog in this postseason race, but I am enjoying the games more than I have in years. The long drought for all these teams is compelling, and a lot of Stars and young players playing at their best, and compelling story lines: Cubs - enough said; Dodgers - can they win with a $310M payroll or go bust; Mets, Royals and Jays all looking to end a long drought and have many exciting players.

I get the Cub's reaction winning for the first time at Wrigley, but watching the Jays celebrate today you would have thought they had won the WS - I liked it, but I don't recall teams reacting so much over a Division Series win. (I suppose it has a lot to do with the Jays losing the first two games and coming back to win)

From one Canadian Brad to another, and for a break in the action, do you by chance have an extra Pennock or a Hoyt V117??? And any luck with the Stengel? Private message or email is fine.

Baseball is a game of tradition and unwritten rules. I think the stare and the bat flip was a bit excessive for the 7th inning. If this was the walk off home run that won the game then i get it.
I think one can be a little more classy in victory.
As to the fans, i get it but dangerous to throw bottles which may seriously injure someone.
I don't know, maybe i am old school lol
Should be a good series

Holy sh!t like baseball was not boring enough the the rest of America besides us old nostalgic farts! Please bring the drama back this post season has been amazing!!!!! Go Dodgers!!!!!!!

This message had been approved by
Trevor Hocking

Being a diehard Cub fan since 1968 and having my heart broke so many times, I thought the Cubbies celebration was pretty tame. Especially since they knocked their Arch rival Cardinals out of the post season. They in general showed some class and respect for their opponents and the fans were quite well controlled. If the do win the World Series, might be a little different and I am sure Chicago will erupt. Not holding my breath but I sure do hope to see this celebration and Theo and Maddon will be treated like baseball gods.

Wow! exaggerate much?

LET'S GO BLUEJAYS!!!

I don't live in Toronto but I have been there on numerous occasions to see the Jays play and I have never seen glass bottles in the stadium. They were aluminium cans and plastic bottles. Regardless, they should not have thrown them onto the field.

[QUOTE=marvymelvin;1461695]The squid (octopus actually) toss is a Detroit thing. In Toronto they toss Leaf jersey's on the ice. :D

[QUOTE=edjs;1461700]The rubber rats was a Florida thing. The Panther fans used to toss hundreds of little rubber rats on the ice and it wasted too much time cleaning up the ice surface until the league got involved and banned this activity.

Blue Jays haters in this thread are blowing my mind. They were down 0-2 and then won 3 straight, despite nearly losing the series on a dopey fluke. So when Bautista is up in the big moment (after the Rangers make 3 errors) and hits his homer, that's going to be an emotional moment. You can't blame him for taking it in.

Also, since the original poster is a Yankees fan (as am I), I find it hard to believe you can call the Jays fans classless for throwing things on the field. At the old stadium, every time fans didn't like what happened they showered the field level seats in beer from the upper deck. Hell I was at a Rangers / Yankees playoff game back in the day where they took a guy's Rangers hat off his head, lit it on fire, and then threw it from the bleachers.

to me...a lifelong yankees fan...bautista did nothing wrong. what's wrong with baseball is this old fuddy duddy mentality that celebrations are not permissable...bla bla bla! He didn't respect the game?

To me respecting the game is playing it hard...within the rules...NOT cheating...NOT electively injuring others...NOT bitching about everything.

First of all, I'm not a Blue Jays fan and couldn't care less who wins once the Red Sox and Yankees are out of it.

As others have mentioned, isn't baseball boring enough and now we're asking players to stop showing any emotion? The Blue Jays were upset about the previous call, even though the umps made the correct call they were still fired up.

Here's what I would say if it was my son pitching or playing infield in that game:

You don't like the opposing teams showing off? How about not allowing a home run or making errors on plays that would even upset little leaguers.

I would have to agree, I personally think Bautista did nothing wrong when flipping the bat the way he did. I'm sure if the pitcher were to sit him down on strikes and celebrated as Bats did, we would not be having this discussion. It is pure entertainment and Bautista put on a show for the fans and there is nothing wrong with that.

Exactly what I was thinking. Glass bottles haven't been allowed in sports stadiums for 40 years.

I was genuinely asking because several posters in this thread were acting like people could have been killed.

I guess maybe if the bottles were full, it could have injured someone.

Honestly though, I wasn't even aware they allowed cans and plastic bottles either. I thought all drinks were served in paper cups at stadiums. That's all I've ever seen at games I've been to.

They have plastic bottles at Yankee Stadium. It's a soft plastic though, not like a thermos kind of plastic. If you got dinged by a full bottle, it would definitely hurt. But you aren't going throw a full $13 beer, even if you're mad.

+1

I went to my only Jays game in Toronto four years ago. There may have been 5,000 people there. I'm fairly certain that a corpse could have been thrown out of the upper deck during the game and no one would have noticed. On the plus side, I was able to buy the cheapest ticket in the place and still sit about six rows off the field.

I commented to a friend after Odor scored in the 7th that I didn't get the fan outrage since 1) It's clearly defined in the rules that it was a live ball and 2) The Jays still had nine outs to find a way to score a run (with arguable the most potent offense in baseball).

I didn't like the bat flip (or Rodney's bow and arrow antics) simply because of the timing. Had the homerun been of the walk-off variety (or had Rodney closed the game out), I'd be ok with it. I understand that it's probably an age / generational difference, but that type of behavior would not have flown with any of my coaches.

Regardless, it all makes for good entertainment. Bat flips or not, I love this time of year.

Mark

Sort of lost in the bat flip tempest is the incredible, perhaps unprecedented implosion of Elvis Andrus.

I was at Citi on Monday also and the venom unleashed at Utley was pretty over the top. Yet instead of retribution, the Mets did what you are supposed to and let their play do the talking...and as far as bat tosses, if you have an issue with Bautista, then where were you with Cespedes?? He launched his bat 15 ft in the air on his bomb.

But as Jeff said, nothing was thrown onto the field, and what the Toronto fans did was a bad move. Even when Gonzalez hit a HR and the ball was thrown back, the PA announcer said that fans should refrain from throwing things for the safety of everyone and they could be immediately ejected from the stadium.

Well said
 

Well said.....a lot of people are unhappy with Jays success this year and they feel they still have a lot to prove. Look at Harold Reynolds and his idiotic comments about Canadians not knowing how to catch a ball.......anyone see the Yankees fan miss three foul balls in one game???

As for Bautista......can you imagine the emotion the team was going through after the incident with the catcher missing te throw and hitting the bat leading to a run that put Texas in the lead.....Holy cow.....can you imagine if that game ended up 3-2 final.....crazy.

I'm Canadian and yes classless fans throwing junk onto the field is inexcusable but I can guarantee it has happened at every stadium in every sporting event.

Andy

Tornoto vs. Texas
 

+1 Jay! Zero class and can you imagine what pitchers like Gibson, Drysdale, Seaver, P.Martinez, etc. would have done to him after a classless act like that! He has no respect for the game, and is an OVERATED hitter because he only beats up average at best pitchers to bulk up his numbers.

JoeT.

NOTHING WRONG??? You obviously know very little about a "code of honor" among players. Virtually every MLB/ESPN analyst, especially the ones who played the game, have blasted his actions. This is the highest level of professional baseball, not some schoolyard "pick-up" game among neighborhood friends.

We aren't wearing suits to the game anymore. And we live in the age of celebrating yourself. Take a look at anyone's Facebook feed. If we get into football territory where after every single some guy does a cartwheel, then I'm with you.

OMG! OVERATED HITTER, are you 4real? now thats funny!:)

But it's ok for a pitcher who got a big strikeout to act a fool?!

Tornoto vs. Texas
 

Never said it was.....

Well therefore it is perfectly ok for Bautista to react the way he did, on top of that I'll give you 3 reasons as to why it is ok.
1. It was a home game
2. It was justified for the situation the Jays were in.
3. The fans loved it!

Bautista is neither a douche nor over rated. He has hit home runs off the best of them and is an upstanding citizen. The bat flip was a little over the top but no one noticed it till they showed it 300 times on the highlights. Everyone in the park, including myself, had our eyes on the ball he crushed for a clutch homer.
Some of you have to stop living in the past. Gibson, Drysdale, Seaver, P.Martinez were great pitchers but there's some great pitchers coming out of the generation we live in also!!

I looked at a Texas paper online to read their perspective and all this didn't seem to be an issue. What they were talking about was the monumental collapse and little league type errors.

As for the fans, that was terrible and not what Toronto is about. A couple drunk punks in the upper level started throwing beer and all of a sudden it was mob mentality. I can tell you though that right away people started pointing out those throwing stuff and the bulk of the crowd turned on them. That's something I'm sure espn didn't mention.

Hey! Would you call Babe Ruth a douche for calling a homer while standing in the box? Showing off has always been a part of sports. I wish we saw more of it. Why does the NFL have the nick name, No Fun League? Penalties for celebrations. Like others have said, "you don't want to be embarrassed, don't give up the homerun." The bat flip was obviously unplanned, so you have to account it to emotion in the moment. Bautisa quote, "I wasn't trying to disrespect anyone."

As for the beer cans, It happens more than we like to remember.

...and yes, I am a Blue Jays fan. GO JAYS GO!