BRATS IN BASEBALL

Earlier this week I read an article published in Psychology Today (HERE) that touts today’s youth as fragile and too protected from life’s tests, obstacles and overarching challenges that make one stronger, more able to face the day-to-day grind of living.  “Whether we want to or not, we're on our way to creating a nation of wimps,” states the author of the article.  I have to say, we are seeing the after effects of this kind baby attitudes in our players today and it is frankly, really annoying.

I was so sick to my stomach when I heard about the Joba-Mo shushing incident last week.  I was taught to not speak over people, that there is a time and a place, and that when people are working, don’t interrupt them.  Mo was working, giving an interview.  His work ethic is tireless, surreal.  They don’t make people like that anymore, instead, we have a bunch of brats stepping onto the infield these days and it is wrecking the game where there was honesty, respect and real, hard core competition between teams to win not between immature players who want some attention. “Chamberlain denied that he had apologized to Rivera -- "There's no need to apologize. For what?” reported ESPN last week.  This is what I mean, you are fooling around with your family, acting like a clown while Mo is working and he couldn’t concentrate.  He had to step up and correct Joba, because he was being loud, and obnoxious.  He didn’t shush him, he politely asked him to lower his voice.  "Joba, yo, bro, bro,'' Rivera could be heard saying to Chamberlain on a tape of the interview played for ESPNNewYork.com (HERE.) "Suave,'' Rivera said, using the Spanish word for soft, while making a palms-down gesture with his hands, according to eyewitnesses.  Completely legitimate and professional, just as I would expect from a veteran player who didn’t get shielded from every little challenge that came his way from a helicopter parent.

And it is not just Joba.  It’s Bryce Harper who threw his helmet a couple of weeks ago like a little leaguer when he was called out on strikes.  The clown question Harper is truthfully a clown of a person- he is cocky and he needs to settle down.  Perhaps he needed a “Suave” warning from a veteran player like Mo.  And Jason Werth’s influence on the young Harper is not what he needs.

Mike Trout came into spring training weighing just about fifteen pounds heavier than last season.  He seems to have let his fame go to his head.  His attitude in promotional commercials for ESPN and other endorsement opportunities make him look and sound like the fat head that adorns many young little leaguers’ walls.  Maybe it is just me, but I fear that he will be the next one to try and outshine a veteran like Albert Pujols.

Joe Girardi said (HERE) it best the other evening following another Yankee win with our new team.  “Every superstar was a young player at one time, and when they came up they may have done some good things, but you really didn't know how good they're going to be until they get there," Girardi said. "We've had some young kids that I believe have a chance to be really good players and come up and do some special things."  And I believe there is a rite of passage, a grooming period for these players- Joba must have missed that memo while he was out on the DL; perhaps that is our fault for always wrapping him in bubble wrap every time he scraped his knee.

Maybe it’s us, as a society, that enables these young players to act this way.  We throw money at them; give them nothing but the best equipment; the all star treatment- top shelf all the way.  We can’t wrap today’s youth in caution tape to protect them from life.  They are going to get hurt, they have to make tough choices, they have to fall and even fail.  And I am afraid that as more rookies enter the scene, feeling entitled, the more brats we will continue to see in baseball today.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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