Sergio Romo says Bryce Harper should shut up about unwritten rules
It’s probably a good thing that the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants don’t play this season until late July. That gives Bryce Harper and Sergio Romo four months to cool down before facing each other.
Harper ruffled feathers in the game this week when he was quoted in an ESPN profile on him saying that baseball is a ‘tired sport’ because it has so many unwritten rules about player conduct and limiting self expression.
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There seems to be a lot of debate about this topic this spring. We’ll call this the tamer version of the Goose Gossage-Jose Bautista dust-up. Romo, who is known as a fiery, emotional guy, said what Harper is advocating isn’t showmanship. It’s showing up opponents and he believes there is no place for it in baseball.
“Don’t put your foot in your mouth when you’re the face of the game and you just won the MVP,” Romo said about Harper in a story published in the San Jose Mercury News. “I’m sorry, but just shut up.”
[Bryce Harper says baseball is ‘a tired sport’]
Harper is a rare talent who was so good so young that he began his major league career at 19. He’s now only 23 heading into his fifth season in the big leagues. This is hardly the first time a young man has rebelled against the system, whether it’s in baseball or any other walk of life. Here is what he told Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine:
“Baseball’s tired,” he says. “It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig – there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.
“Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn’t care. Because you got him. That’s part of the game. It’s not the old feeling – hoorah … if you pimp a homer, I’m going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot … I mean – sorry.”
“If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football, basketball. Look at those players – Steph Curry, LeBron James. It’s exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam Newton – I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It’s that flair. The dramatic.”
Romo said he believes there is plenty of room in baseball for players to be themselves and show their emotions in a way that doesn’t show up opponents. He said it’s a skill he has had to work on throughout his career. He is entering his ninth season in the big leagues.
“I don’t agree that being able to put your hands up when you hit a 500-foot home run or punching somebody out and then staring them down, I’m sorry, it doesn’t add flair to the game,” Romo said. “That’s showing up the other guy.”
Both of these guys have valid points. It probably is time for baseball players to grow some thicker skin and let opponents have some fun when they get a big strikeout or launch a massive home run. There is also a fine line that shouldn’t be crossed and there probably should be penalties when it is, just like basketball has the technical foul and football has rules against taunting.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
