El Profe: Back to (old) school

Yasiel Puig is a wild card. One doesn’t quite know what to expect from him on any given night. That is why it is often hard to take your eyes off him when you are at the ballpark.

Adding to the level of either one’s support or disdain, Puig’s personality attracts and repels. He is emotional and gifted, a ballplayer whose play can either be reckless or a beautiful display of controlled power and precision.

On Aug. 4, Puig took a swing with the bat and fouled the pitch back. He expressed his frustration with missing a pitch he could have crushed.

Giants catcher Nick Hundley decided to express his discontent with Puig’s antics. The two exchanged words and then shoves. Then Puig took a swing with his fist at Hundley as the benches cleared.

It was another heated moment in the 60-year rivalry between Los Angeles and San Francisco, two franchises that were actually rivals even earlier when they were both in New York.

Settled?

Major League Baseball suspended Puig for two games for taking a swing at Hundley with his fist. The Giants catcher received a fine for his part in the fracas.

For some that settled the matter. It also provided an easy narrative.

Puig was viewed as the offender. He was the temperamental Latino who couldn’t keep his emotions in check.

Hundley took on the role of good cop who reprimanded Puig for his misbehavior and who became the victim of Puig’s tempestuousness.

But there is more to this latest episode in the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, especially for those of us who are not fans invested in either team.

Old School?

The Dodgers-Giants fracas brought us face-to-face once more with the self-appointed leaders of the ‘old school.’

By now, we are all pretty much acquainted with that imaginary school. It is the one where everyone plays the game the “right way.” It’s also where there are those who are ready to take on the mantle of policing perceived infractions of the unwritten rules.

This time it was Hundley who took it upon himself to police Puig’s behavior during his at-bat. Yet, Hundley is not alone in taking offense with the emotional displays of opposing players.

We have also seen how often it is a Latino player who is viewed as having committed some sort of infraction.

Creating the Old School Curriculum

Perceptions that ‘this was not how they played back in the day’ guide how leaders of the old school try to police behavior.

But this raises several questions: What old days? Who defined the right way to play then? Who determined that emotions and bat flips were not allowed?

Let’s not forget numerous white players, fans, and journalists took great offense at how Jackie Robinson introduced a Negro League style of play into the majors when he started desegregating baseball in 1947.

The way Robinson flitted about and feigned taking off to steal while on the base paths offended their sensibilities. To them, this was not how the game was played.

Sometimes perceptions of how the game was played back in the day are just wrong.

Recently video resurfaced of Yankees great Mickey Mantle flipping his bat after taking his swing. Mantle was expressing his emotions, just like José Bautista has done on numerous occasions.

Part of what was manifested in the kerfuffle between the Dodgers and Giants is a flawed sense of the past and of the present in baseball. Indeed, what we witnessed unfurl at Dodgers Stadium is also a manifestation of a cultural clash over how baseball is played (or imagined) in certain sectors of the United States versus in Latin America, or other parts of the baseball world.

A Flawed History Lesson

The self-appointed leaders of the old school often position themselves as helping ‘teach’ newcomers the right way to play baseball. Their supporters often echo that sentiment. And often it is Latinos like Puig and Bautista who are seen as the students who need to be schooled about how the game is played.

That too is based on a flawed premise.

Latinos are not newcomers to baseball. Baseball has been played in Cuba since the 1860s.

Baseball arrived in the Dominican Republic in the late 1880s. The game gained popularity in Puerto Rico in the 1890s. That same decade baseball established roots in Venezuela.

In fact, Brazil is the recent newcomer of the baseball-playing countries in Latin America. And in that country baseball was introduced in the early 1900s by Japanese immigrants, primarily in the Sao Paulo region.

Players Weekend

As MLB heads into the celebration of Players Weekend, the collision of baseball cultures is put somewhat in suspension. For the second year in a row, MLB will permit baseball cultures to come into full view.

We will see bats bearing the national colors of Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and also the United States.

Fielding gloves, cleats, and baseball socks will have unique designs, some dedicated to causes and people near to the hearts of players.

Teams will wear special uniforms. Players’ nicknames like El Mago, Mr. Smiles, and Puchi will adorn the uniforms.

Yet this particular celebration of diversity is temporary. And even in the midst of Players Weekend, one does not know whether a leader of the old school will emerge, finding an emotional display or other behavior not to his liking.

What Players Weekend showcases is the way baseball can evolve. It speaks to the history lesson of how the game has changed for the better over the generations. Indeed, as MLB opened itself more to African American, Latino, Afro-Latino, and Asian players and also to the infusion of their cultures, baseball has become better.

Baseball has become a place where we can all celebrate our teams, our cultures, and our shared game.

Featured Image: Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Sport