Yasiel Puig says Bryce Harper is his idol, wants more fun in baseball

Are you ready to meet the new duo that baseball fun-haters won’t be able to stand? It’s Yasiel Puig and Bryce Harper, who on their own inspire fits of rage from baseball traditionalists. Put them together and ohhhh boy.

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Puig gave a revealing interview to ESPN’s Marly Rivera that included a number of highlights, but let’s start with this one: Puig said Harper is his idol now and he wants to join the “Make Baseball Fun Again” campaign. We haven’t seen a marriage of two constantly vilified people this fantastic since Kanye West put a ring on Kim Kardashian.

(Getty Images) Here’s what Puig had to say to Rivera:

Bryce Harper is my idol now. I’m going to join him in the “make baseball fun again” campaign; I’m just waiting to get my shirts and baseball caps. He’s always been a great friend and a great athlete, and I admire him. I like how he plays the game, and I think he gets it. It’s good to see an American player saying that there needs to be a little more fun in baseball. Fans leave everything behind to come and see us play. We have to make baseball fun for the fans and not take everything so personal.

It’s not about Harper or Puig making noise about it. In baseball, it is more common for a pitcher to punch you out three times than for you to hit the ball out of the park. So after you have struck out three times against a pitcher and you finally get a home run, bat flips are just an emotional expression — not about taunting the pitcher. That’s what Jose Bautista did [in Game 5 of last year’s ALDS]; he changed the result of that game with that swing. It was a big thrill for him, and he flipped the bat. He has always been a respectful player and only flipped his bat when he was overcome by emotion. Afterward, he was criticized as if what he did was wrong. But he had fun!

Preach it, Puig! With apologies to Bautista, the Harper administration should without question appoint Puig the National Director of Bat Flips and Great Throws.

Speaking of those great throws, Puig tackled that in the interview too — plus he talked about getting in better shape and wanting to shred the label of “bad teammate.” He said:

This year things are better. I think it’s because my teammates see the effort that I am putting in every day, which I didn’t do before. They see the change in my behavior, and I think it has helped to have better relationships in the clubhouse. My only goal this year is to work hard and give my all, and I want to maybe win the Roy Campanella Award [selected by Dodgers players and personnel for team leadership]. Then people can see that maybe it wasn’t all about Yasiel Puig being wrong.

While you think up the other members of Bryce Harper’s “Make Baseball Fun Again” cabinet, give the whole Puig interview a read. If you’re one of those Puig haters, it might just make you change how you think of him.

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