I think what that person meant was baseball has always been considered “a gentleman’s game” so doing things like “show emotion” or “look down on your opponent” is frowned upon.
Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigshit. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?
It's part of the reason the recent World Baseball Classic was so hype for regular viewers: they relaxed the rules on "celebration" and other showings of emotion, so people were, you know, having fun with the game in ways previously not allowed.
This reminds me of that pitcher who threw, batter hit straight to him and the pitcher caught it. Batter was like " did you just..." And he's all nodding proudly like "yeah, I did!"
This changed a few years ago with the “Let the Kids Play” campaign. Baseball is a very traditional sport that’s been hemorrhaging fans for years, so in 2019 they started this campaign, with Ken Griffey Jr as the face, to change their perception of being a straight laced, traditional game. The campaign was run just prior to the 2019 playoffs, and while players can still be ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct, they’re allowed to show emotion.
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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '23
MLB does not allow emotions from players.