This is the single most reasonable thing anyone has ever said about Bautista's heroics. It was a moment, that's it. A crazy exciting moment, but because everything has to be a Thing, it became a referendum on the Ethics in Baseballism when it should have just been an advertisement for how exciting the playoffs can be. The commissioner gets it, which is an incredibly weird thing to write.Manfred was also asked about Bryce Harper's comments about how stuffed up baseball can feel sometimes and, again, the commissioner is right on the money.It was a very, very exciting moment at a point in time of great excitement for that particular franchise when they hadn't been, you know, a great team for a long time and, you know, it's one of those moments that happens, and it was exciting, people liked it and probably on balance it's good for the game.
Again, this is most reasonable reaction I've seen anyone have to Bryce Harper's comments and Goose Gossage's tirade. Sure, it's just One Man's Opinion, but that man is the face of capital-B baseball. Maybe the suits are finally figuring out that respecting The Game and having fun are not mutually exclusive concepts. Welcome to the party, folks, there's still plenty of room.[ESPN]I think it's an interesting topic the way it sort of played out. I think it's always been true in baseball that with respect to what happens on the field, not the rules, but the way that players conduct themselves, that each generation of players defines what's acceptable behavior. It's not always been exactly the same, and I kind of line up with Bryce Harper on this. I think that a great generation of young stars is coming into the game and just like Goose and his peers decided certain things were OK, certain things weren't, this generation's gonna define what the game looks like on those topics.