In an exclusive interview with ESPN The Magazine, the reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper disclosed how he felt about Major League Baseball. It's safe to say he's speaking for many players throughout the sport with his statements.
Harper described baseball as "tired" because "you can't express yourself," which is something that has been a big topic of debate over the past few seasons. A number of bench-clearing incidents dealt with the (at times questionable) behavior of some players. Still, Harper and many others feel MLB needs to loosen up a bit.
"It's a tired sport," the young star told ESPN. "You can't do what people in other sports do. I'm not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it's the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that's Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig - there's so many guys in the game now who are so much fun."
The 22-year-old uses fellow youngster Jose Fernandez as a prime example. The Miami Marlins starter has been known for angering other MLB players over the past two seasons as he's stared down hitters on the mound and showboated his first home run of his career, which came in 2013. As you can imagine, it resulted in a bench-clearing incident. Check it out below:
Harper is right to an extent. Baseball is easily the only professional sport that frowns upon showboating and trash talking, among other such tactics. We've seen the benches clear thanks to young players such as Yordano Ventura and Carlos Gomez, both of whom are emotional players that bring out the worst in others. Yes, at time, those emotions need to be contained as both have been involved in incidents where (in the eyes of many) they were wrong, but there are also many occasions where players are just being too sensitive to the fact that others like to let loose during an exciting or high-pressure moment.
"If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I'm going to go, 'Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.' That's what makes the game fun," Harper added. "You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players."
It should go both ways. What's wrong with a pitcher celebrating a strikeout and letting the hitter know that he was just owned? What's wrong with a hitter showboating a home run and letting the pitcher know that he made a mistake throwing the hitter that pitch? There are always going to be outlier cases (we saw a number of them this year), but for the most part, showboating in general is frowned upon according to baseball's "unwritten rules." Baseball is the only sport that has such unofficial guidelines.
Major League Baseball has been working to attract a younger audience, especially ever since Commissioner Rob Manfred succeeded Bud Selig. What would be a good start? Trashing those unwritten rules and allowing the freedom of expression - within reason, of course.
