It was a match for the ages! The rumble in the Queens City, the Thrilla in the city of seven hills, the fight of the blue chip millennium! Yes, the Chicago Cubs Javier Baez and the Cincinnati Reds Amir Garrett. But just like many overly hyped fights in the past, this was no Thrilla in Manilla.
While the sequence seemed to play out just like any other play, this strikeout ended up in benches clearing and heightened tensions between these two divisional foes. With many confused, both Baez and Garrett offered their explanation of the events after the game.
“He stared at me,” Baez said of Garrett. “He’s frustrated because I got a homer off him last year. A grand slam. Four RBIs. Right now, anyone can strike me out because I’m struggling. I’m frustrated because I’m trying to get better. Just keep trying and trying.”
Baez has been reeling in the last several days, batting .091 in his last seven and .178 in the last 14 days. He’s also had 14 strikeouts in that span, which accounts for 35% of his season total. Garrett had mostly praise for Baez.
“That’s just how the game goes. He got me, I got him, so we’re even,” Garrett said. “We’re gonna have plenty of more matchups going forward. There’s no hard feelings. Like I said, I love the way he plays the game, I love the way he carries his business. He’s very flashy, and I love that. I love all of it. But like I said, you dish it, you gotta take it.”
Sure Amir got that last little dig in there on Baez, but they seemingly put this behind them. Then the Cubs seemingly put the Reds behind them when they came out in the nightcap and destroyed them 10-0.
So, of course, Javy has a lot of flashiness to his game. You can call him cocky, or a showboater, or whatever else. What a lot of people don’t understand is his flashiness comes from his background. Latin players play the game of baseball with more flare than American players have. They grow up celebrating hits, and strikeouts, and even tough outs they make in the field. These celebrations are as much a part of their game as cracker jacks are to the American game.
A huge distinction to make is, when they show off – it is NEVER directed at another player – their performance is almost always a celebration of what they just accomplished. I think there were two factors in Baez’s response to Garrett. First, Baez is incredibly frustrated at his level of play lately. Second, Garrett’s howl he let out was directed at Baez. I’m not going to blame Garrett for anything, that’s not what I am saying. What I would say is, if Baez plans on being Baez and showing off after anything positive he does – he needs to expect that others will do the same in return.
I would like to know what the deal with Albert Almora was. At some point, his calm-o-meter flipped to freak out mode. I don’t know if someone said something, or what, but he was flaming during that scrum.
This is the second time in the last several seasons that the Cubs and the Reds have had heated moments on the field.
It doesn’t mean much as perhaps Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo remain as the only players involved, but perhaps, just perhaps there are some bad feelings one way or another.
