Rob Manfred supports Bryce Harper, calls him 'spokesman' for generation
Commissioner Rob Manfred endorses Bryce Harper's campaign to make baseball more entertaining.
"I think it's a good thing," Manfred said Thursday during a meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors, according to the New York Daily News. "We're trying to market to a younger audience."
Harper has come out in support of players showing more emotion with things like bat flips -- the very things that irritate some of the sport's older stars, including Hall of Famer Goose Gossage.
"I think to the extent that you believe, and I actually do, that Bryce Harper is a spokesman for this generation, I suspect that you will see more exuberance from our players on the field," Manfred said, according to ESPN.
As willing as Manfred is to let a new generation of stars develop its own codes and unwritten rules, he doesn't approve of everything Harper says. One such case is when the 23-year-old Washington Nationals slugger called baseball a "tired" sport.
"Do I wish I could edit some of Bryce's words? Yes. Tired is one of them," Manfred told the Daily News. "They're young. They see the world differently. If we want to see the young people take the game forward we have to be tolerant."
