Completely Bush League. Act like you have been there before. :-)
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Yep. My initial reaction was laughter, but then I realized that it was completely bush league. I agree 100% with you Adam on this.
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So a guy on one team does something childish and the response from the other team is potentially career or life ending? Just once after a bean ball takes place I'd like to see the detail cop come from the dugout and arrest the pitcher for assault or attempted murder.

Don't like seeing people attempt to deliberately injure others in any level of sports. Do something like that at my workplace I'm fired and maybe prosecuted. But, sports are "special" in this stupidly prioritized and distracted nation we live in.
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Yeah, that rant made me feel better...
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Its slightly funny in a Little League way, but to show up a guy just because you had been struggling is simply asinine. A lot of Reds fans throw a fit when Nyjer Morgan does some stupid stuff, Brandon Phillips does the same and Reds fans think its fine, but this was too far over-the-top. :-)

I wish everyone would conduct themselves like Votto, it would lead to a lot less 'fueds' between players and teams. Just go out and do what you are paid to do and keep your mouth and antics to yourself. :-)

And everyone in the Reds lineup today should be expecting to get hit, and it wouldn't suprise me if it gets out of hand with retaliations and people get the gate. Personally, I would have Votto on the bench until a few plunks have been dealt. :-)
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Unfortunately, its been a part of baseball for so long, it not going away. You act like an idiot or play too well, someone is getting plunked. And then the other team beans someone back. Its a vicious cycle. Tensions can get high over a nice long season, might as well mix it up with a benches clearing brawl. Its like targeting the star on a hockey team, you better be ready for a fight with the other team's enforcer. :-)
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Yep, I agree it is stupid. I hate the "unwritten" rules of baseball.
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Watching the game today, they dropped a very interesting stat:

Joey Votto has batted with the bases empty 175 times out of 319 plate appearances and only had RISP in 75 AB's. :-)

As I suspected it is near the bottom of the MLB, this is 4th worst in the MLB. :-)
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Watching this game as well, Votto and Phillips have my vote for the ASG (all 25 of them, lol!)
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That is great news considering we are in 1st place. That means if we can improve on this stat, we should be unstoppable.
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Phillips left in the 6th, so hopefully it isn't anything serious. :-)
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It means that Votto's stats are just plain gaudy considering the OBP of the #1 & #2 hitters is .289, not average, OBP. 15th out of 16th in the NL. The 3 with less people on base than Votto: Bautista, Dunn and Pujols. :-)
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If you have a second e-mail addy, you can have 50 votes!:-)
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No talk about the flips last night? I thought it was an awesome show by Chapman to say that he's back (although with the help of a poor strike zone by the home plate ump). I don't see any difference between this and the Ozzie backflips in the infield (except that Ozzie was a helluva lot more acrobatic).
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Not even comparable to Ozzie, who flipped before games and had a much better career than Chapman likely will. It was childish, bush league, embarassing and luckily was handled internally so there was no retaliation today. :-)
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Why was it Busch league to you, Adam? Not knocking your opinion, just wanting to know why? Baseball seems to have an unwritten rule where you can't show emotion. I get it to a degree b/c the showboating in the NBA/NFL has gotten out of hand, but some celebration is warranted at times. Not much difference to me between the half-assed flips by Chapman and Phillips' show off moves at second. Or the Heath Bell slide during last year's all star game. And Ozzie did some flips after making some stellar plays as well, not just before games.
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I respectfully disagree. It's part of baseball and has always been a part of it. Retaliation is there to protect players on your own team. Retaliation after showboating is one thing, but retaliation after one of your own players gets knocked down is just an "eye for an eye, tooth for tooth" imho. I realize that we don't live in Old Testament days anymore, but hey, if you f*** up, then expect to pay for it. I haven't seen any life threatening situations in baseball that were intentional since the days of Ty Cobb (correct me if my facts are wrong there).
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First, Chapman hassn't earned the right to showboat anything, he is still a developing player.
B) It was selfish because he has pitched like **** in his last few outings, languishing in his 9th (ninth? Yes, only 9) save of the season.
3. It directly shows up an opponent when you did nothing special, he saved a game against a team 10 games below .500.
IV. Emotion is one thing, but go celebrate with your teammates who help you out every night. You cost them 4 games, go celebrate with the guys you owe a few.
Five. Its a sommersault, really? A sommersault, like you learn to do in 2nd grade PE class.

Baseball is a team sport, you can't do anything alone, although Votto seems to do a lot by himself (see above). :-)

For the record, I hate the antics by Phillips too, he shows off all the time over routine stuff. Congratulations, he made a play in the hole that most guys should make, no need to bang your chest and scream like a moron. Just take you $30 million, do you job and keep your mouth shut :-)
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Agreed, but it put him out of his funk and he was ecstatic, he's young, and it displayed energy, his passion to win, and maybe that he was past his woes.

Only 9 saves this season b/c he didn't take over the closer role until approximately May 21st

He did do something special to him. In his opinion, he's back to norm after an extended period of shitty performances. I doubted him last night, and I'm sure a lot of guys on his team and ppl in the stands doubted him as well. The Brewers didn't seem to take offense to it (at least not by any indication in today's game) except maybe it gave them the motivation to win.

Agreed. It would have meant more if he went and celebrated with his team vs. on the field, but the language gap may have prevented that to a degree. Still, on the field was his first reaction and he chose to celebrate there. It might not have been the correct thing to do, but he's young, dumb, and stupid (Weird Al reference there, not calling Chappy stupid by any means).

The somersaults were very non-acrobatic, but it was the best he could do. He's no Ozzie Smith by any means. I agree that the somersaults were crappy looking on field, but if that was the best he could do, then so be it. Not as showboaty as the NBA or NFL showboaters.

Agreed 100%. A closer can't even enter a game if his team doesn't perform offensively/defensively.

I'm not talking about the chest beating, I'm talking about the plays through the legs Harlem Globetrotters style that he makes to get outs or to start double plays. As long as BP gets it done, then he can do it anyway he chooses.


At the end of the night, he celebrated b/c he "is back" to the norm, which may or not be the case, but it was a big mental challenge that he overcame and I hope he truly is back.
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I think we're seeing things from two different perspectives. From what I gather, you seem to say that Chapman's celebration meant that he is better than the game and is a cocky SOB (same reason that I hate A-Rod, David Justice, and other players with the same type of egotistical personality). I hate those types of players, I just don't think Chappy is one of them.

I see it as Chapman celebrating the beginning of a comeback out of a funk that has really hurt this team the past two weeks.
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