Following Asdrubal Cabrera’s emphatic bat flip, here are baseball’s five best celebratory gestures
The “Make Baseball Fun Again” movement took a major step forward last night with one epic flip of the bat.
Long considered a controversial form of celebration, the bat flip in baseball has been taken to new heights in recent years, especially in the form of online reactions from social media. Face it baseball purists, the bat flip is here to stay.
(And to be honest, it’s always been here. One only has to look at Mickey Mantle, the original king of the bat flip.)
Before we get to the list, a few ground rules. The bat flip needs to follow a home run. If you’re taking time to toss your bat, but still need to leg out a double, shame on you. Also, it’s mandatory that the ball stays fair. (That means you, Jacoby Ellsbury.)
Also, bat drops don’t count. We’re looking for a flip or at the very least, a high toss. There is nothing emphatic about dropping a bat two feet from the ground. Also this is strictly an MLB list, with all due to respect to the great bat flips in KBO, little league and Wiffle ball history.
Asdrubal Cabrera’s walk-off, three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th against the Phillies is already in the pantheon of the greatest bat flip inducing dingers of all time. Here is our top 5.
Let’s get to flipping.
5. Yasiel Puig
We can’t have a bat flip list without including one of the “Make Baseball Fun Again” movement leaders. (All due respect to Bryce Harper, a bat flip extraordinaire in his own right.)
The ongoing feud between Puig and Madison Bumgarner took a new turn this week with #DontLookAtMe-Gate, but it all started two years with one (you guessed it) bat flip. After hitting a solo homer down 3-0, Puig executed a rather modest flip that did not go over well with Bumgarner. The fiery Giants pitcher met Puig halfway to home plate and the two exchanged some words.
Bum later beaned Puig in a game two months after the offending flip, causing both benches to clear. It’s quite obvious that Bumgarner does not like bat flips, or simply doesn’t like anything Puig does in his general vicinity.
Bat flip critique: For all the beef it induced, the Puig flip was rather reserved in nature. It was a simple quick flip to the right with very little hang time and rotation. Score from 1 to 10: 7 (more for the aftermath)
4. Yoenis Cespedes
Another hero of the modern bat flip era is Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes. After breaking into the majors in 2012, Cespedes enjoyed a mostly solid career for his first 3.5 seasons. It wasn’t until a deadline day trade to the Mets in 2015, however, that the man they call Yo truly emerged as one of the game’s most feared hitters.
One thing that has always worked in Cespedes’ favor, even before becoming a Met, is crushing dingers at Citi Field. Not known for being a sandbox, there is something about the Flushing park that bring the best out of Cespedes. It also brings out the bat flips.
The first instance came when Cespedes crushed the 2013 Home Run Derby at Citi, besting out Bryce Harper in the finals and flipping his bat after the clinching homer for good measure. Since then there have been many bat flip-worthy moments during Cespedes’ epic run as a Met, but the best came against the Dodgers in Game 3 of the 2015 NLDS, after Cespedes iced the game with a three-run blast off hapless Alex Wood.
Bat flip critique: This flip did not lack in style nor grace. After taking a quick moment to admire the shot, Cespedes placed the base of the bat on his left hand and flipped towards the camera for a perfect 360 rotation. Aspiring bat flippers need to take notice. Score: 8.5
3. Asdruba Cabrera
(Full disclosure: The author of this piece may or may not be an unabashed Mets fanatic.)
Sometimes bat flips can feel like they’re lifting the weight off an entire organization and fanbase’s collective shoulders. Such is the case for the toss that followed Asdrubal Cabrera’s heroic homer against the Phillies on Thursday night (Sept. 22)
The Mets, coming off a sweep against the cellar-dwelling Braves, and in the thick of the NL Wildcard race, were looking at a fourth straight devastating loss. After blowing an early 3-0 lead, the team tied the game 6-6 in the bottom of the 9th on a miraculous two-run shot by Jose Reyes, only to have the Phillies take what looked like a demoralizing 8-6 lead in the top of the 11th.
With every win counting so much as the season winds down to its last week, Cabrera stepped up to the dish with two on and one out in the bottom of the frame, and hit a no-doubt-about it laser to right field. It was followed by one of the quickest and most emphatic bat flips in MLB history.
Bat flip critique: This bat flip had it all, folks. It came on an extra-inning, walk-off homer, and consisted of a two-handed heave that induced multiple rotations. Cabrera’s passion for the game cannot be understated; he is simply a modern day saint. Score: 9.5 (Half-point reduction for occurring in a regular season game)
2. Tom Lawless
As stated earlier, bat flips are not the new normal or a creation of the game’s modern day millennials. (Not according to Rick Sutcliffe, at least.)
No, players have been flipping bats for a while and to be quite honest, they used to be way bigger jerks about it. Case in point: In the 1987 World Series between St. Louis and Minnesota, Tom Lawless came up to the plate, he of the “1 career home run club” at the time of the at-bat. The lifetime .207 hitter doubled his career total with a monster shot to left field off Frank Viola. He followed with a bat flip that only a guy with two career homers could feel secure in executing.
Lawless went on to add another regular season homer to his career total, but nothing will ever top his out-of-nowhere bomb in the World Series. (For what it’s worth, the Cardinals went on to lose the series in seven games.) When later asked about it, Lawless said, “I went blank. I don’t remember flipping the bat.” Sure you don’t, Tom Lawless.
Bat flip critique: This is a bat flip that had it all. Aside from all basics we covered – admiring the shot first, hang time, distance, rotation – Lawless also added the always important “time between contact and flip.” The dude was half-way to first base before he got rid of the bat. Score: 10
1. Jose Bautista
There was a time in Bautista’s career when he must have wondered, “How many bat flip chances will I get?” That’s because through the first six years of his time in The Show, Bautista put up modest power numbers totaling only 59 home runs. Everything changed in 2010, when the man they now call Joey Bats hit an absurd 54 home runs, five shy of what he had previously done in his entire MLB career.
Bautista never topped the 50 again, but had gone over the 25-mark five straight years (including two seasons with 40 or more) leading up his injury-shortened 2016 season. He’s had some major moon shots for the powerhouse Blue Jays, but none as memorable and emphatic as the one against the Rangers in the 2015 ALDS.
During a crazy, 53-minute 7th inning in Game 5, which included errors/questionable calls, fans throwing garbage on the field and the benches clearing twice, it was a monumental bat flip that will be remembered most. With the game tied 3-3 with two outs, Joey Bats annihilated a baseball into deep left-center.
Bat flip critique: This is the bat flip to define bat flips. It started with a quick glance towards the outfield, followed by a spontaneous, over-the-shoulder flip and facial expression that can never be duplicated. It may or may not have subconsciously caused Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor to punch Bautista in the face one year later, but, man, was it worth it. Score: 10
Agree or disagree wit the list? Any bat flips you think we missed? Feel free to jump into the comment section.
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