On The Field Sports Demonstrations

Last night young phenom Bryce Harper, the Washington National's number one draft pick from 2010 and projected to hit the big leagues next year caused a bit of a stir in the sports world. He hit a homerun in a minor league game, stared at the ball as it made it's way into the stands, and then loped lazily around the bases. Apparently the pitcher who had just given it up the shot took a little umbrage at this "showing up", as baseball players call it, and yelled something to Harper as he rounded third base. Harper responded by blowing him a kiss - all caught of course on video and soon after went viral.

Well so what? Reggie Jackson routinely stood at homeplate and admired his homers; so did Barry Bonds. In today's game, Dwight Howard of the Phillies and Prince Fielder of the Brewers have their own routines after they think they have slugged one. And there are other demonstrations in baseball too, just like there are in all the other major sports. Check out the bearded one's act - Brian Wilson of the San Francisco Giants - after he has recorded a save.

Why is obvious. The videos are all over the planet in minutes and talking heads on TV and radio endlessly analyze them and talk about them for an entire sports news cycle. It's just part of modern sports and the dance it does with media, which now includes blogs such as this, Twitter and Facebook.

In baseball I really don't get too bent out of shape by these histrionics. First of all, it's just a game and baseball in particular has a way of policing itself. Batters who show up pitchers might find a ball in their ribs the next time they face them. or maybe in their ear. Not too smart for Mr. Harper; he still has to see that team 9 more times this year. He'd better be prepared to get plunked.

Why don't pitchers throw at guys like Howard or Fielder? Well there is a self-policing factor there too; those guys are dangerous hitters who can wreck a game with one swing of the bat. You don't want to give them any more motivation then they already have.

As for Bryce Harper, well the jury is still out on him. Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt. one of the most feared hitters of his time, said it best this morning when asked; Harper better plan on hitting a lot more homers in his career if he doesn't want to see reprisals for his homerun act.