“I Would’ve Done the Same” – St. Louis Cardinals Star Defends ‘Disrespectful’ Celebration at Baseball Game

Sport is a fickle mistress. Celebrating a hit is one thing, but overdoing a celebration is quite another. In a clip circulating online, a player was seen hitting a pitch deep into right field, before rounding the bases and getting mobbed at home plate by his teammates. He was, however, criticized for overdoing the celebrations. Jack Flaherty, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, was quick to step to the team’s defense.

Emotion is a fickle thing in sport. Sometimes it ebbs and flows delicately. Sometimes it stands out more than anything else. And with a game in the balance, sometimes emotions do tend to get the better of you. Especially when you’re a young player that is only starting to make it big. However, Flaherty jumped to the defense of the young man, outlining his reasons for the same. More so in that specific game of the video clip.

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Jack Flaherty defends the actions of the young hitter

Jack Flaherty replied to the video going around, coming out in favor of the players. While a little vocal in the video, Flaherty defended their actions by saying that some context was needed before he condemned their actions. Adding that his initial reaction was also similar until he had some additional context to the situation.

Wrote Flaherty, “I’m not going to put out the context of what was said to the players during the game by opposing fans (a line was crossed) … but damn I would’ve done the same thing.”

What prompted Flaherty’s defense?

During the game, the young hitter was seen dispatching a high fly ball into the deep right field before flipping his bat for the walk-off home run. Add to that he was mobbed at home plate with several players jumping to recognize the hitter’s talent. However, the team drew some ire from baseball Twitter, as many felt the display was unnecessary and overbearing.

Former MLB player, Jeff Frye even took to calling out coaches for not correcting such behavior at an early level. Wrote Frye, “You are failing your players if you allow this nonsense!”

Going on to say that correcting them is the appropriate step to take. Wrote Frye, ” Teach your players to respect the game and their opponents. They’ll be better for it.”

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What do you think? Is such a display okay with any context at all? Would you rather that players didn’t have such vocal displays in any context?