Must admit, I never thought I'd greatly anticipate highlights of Warwick Saupold and Dixon Machado.
But the former Tigers are in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) - the only game in town. Don't care if it's on at 1 in the morning. I watched opening day, at least until nodding off. Saupold even threw a two-hit shutout, making a spectacular play in the process.
Hey, it's not MLB, but it is a relatively high level of baseball and live. There are several MLB-caliber players in the league.
While it's refreshing to not know the result of a sporting event during the pandemic, it's also surreal and dystopian with empty stadiums and the masks. Elbow bumps instead of fist bumps...Now that's different.
There was a pleasant surprise: Bat flips.
I've grown tired of many of baseball's unwritten rules. NFL players celebrate touchdowns and sacks. It's accepted when an NBA players does "muscle arms" after a dunk or flashes three fingers after draining a shot beyond the arc. Who doesn't appreciate an NHL player pumping their arm after scoring a goal?
The bat flip after a home run, obviously if done with a measure of safety, does the same thing. In South Korea, it's encouraged. It becomes a signature move for a hitter, a baseball version of the Lambeau leap, if you.
I think it is fantastic.
Sports are to be celebrated. We know that more than ever during the pandemic. The bat flip is a celebration, not an insult to a conquered opponent.
It's something to embrace.
Glad they do in South Korea.
Wish MLB would more, too, when it returns.
