Marcus Stroman believes his celebrations and displays of emotion have been toned down on the mound this year, but opponents still seem to take issue with them.
The Mets righty got into an exchange with Pirates first baseman John Nogowski on Friday night after Stroman forced Nogowski into a lineout to end the fifth inning, Stroman's last after grinding through a night where he didn't have his best stuff. The benches cleared, the two continued to jaw at each other the next inning, and it once again opened up the tired conversation of baseball's unwritten rules and the longstanding belief within a large population of the game that players should "act like they've been there before."
That's not Stroman's way, but he still has been conscious of mellowing out his celebrations this season, but that didn't prevent Friday's incident, which was sparked when Stroman said he pounded his glove and cheered toward his own dugout, when suddenly Nogowski began shouting towards him.
"It's ridiculous, you see plenty of guys showing emotions these days, especially pitchers," Stroman said. "To be honest with you, I've purposefully told myself to show less emotion and I've been extremely reserved out there and quiet. If I have any emotion, it's towards our dugouts, never at the other teams or players, and they know that. So for him to come and be like that in that situation, I think it's completely uncalled for."
Stroman isn't a stranger to the criticism. Angels players took exception to his celebration after finishing off a complete game in 2017, and two years later, he caught heat from NESN color commentator and former pitcher Dennis Eckersley after Stroman celebrated a strikeout against the Red Sox to complete six shutout innings at Fenway Park.
Eckersley represents an older generation of the game where open displays of emotion were considered taboo, but Stroman has no problem if he is on the receiving end of celebrations, even if many players in today's game don't feel the same.
"Hitters get on first base and do the Macarena when they get a broken-bat single at times and I don't say anything," Stroman said.
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