Are Baseball Players Fighting More Because They Have An Inferiority Complex To Hockey Players?
It’s no secret that baseball is currently suffering from Stuffy Old White Man Syndrome. Sure, there’s plenty to love about the game but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be stuck in a rut of complete boredom. You don’t need me to tell you that. We already have Bryce Harper out there starting his Make Baseball Fun Again campaign just for this very reason. It’s America’s past time but just like all the great men from America’s past time, it’s getting old and grey and decrepit and dead. But when you think about hockey, it’s the polar opposite. It’s constant action. It’s up-and-down, back-and-forth. You have big time hits, big time goals, big time everything. It’s a beautifully barbaric game. Pretty much everything that baseball wishes it was. You can easily see how anybody could get jealous of hockey guys on a nightly basis. Which begs the question on whether or not baseball players are trying to capitalize on the decline of fighting in hockey by throwing some more hands of their own to get back in the spotlight.
It’s long been the case for baseball players to be the biggest fake tough guys in all of sports. You know it, I know it, the whole world knows it. Sure, they’ll occasionally charge the mound but only because they know they know it won’t escalate to anything further than a “hold me back” type of scenario. There will be a few light shoves thrown, maybe somebody will take out their aggression on a Gatorade jug after getting tossed from the game. But for the most part, baseball fights were always the weakest fights that professional sports had to offer (that crown has since been taken by NASCAR). However, the tides are turning here, people. We had this bench clearing brawl in a Triple-A game last night that looked like a scene out of spring break in Panama City. Manny Machado put a beating on Ventura earlier this month and then, of course, there was Rougned Odor teeing up Joey Bats face with a fist of fury. 3 legitimate fights this close together in succession? What’s next? Are teams going to start shaking hands after playoff series? It just seems a little fishy to me, is all. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So I guess hockey can appreciate the compliment here. But tread lightly, baseball, and make sure to stay in your lane.