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A baseball bat rotating in the air as the result of a bat flip

In baseball, a bat flip is the throwing of a baseball bat in such a way that it rotates several times before landing. It is typically done by a batter to show off after hitting a home run. This is in contrast to the usual practice of dropping the bat straight down as the batter begins running to first base.

Asia and Latin America

Bat flipping is popular in Asian and Latin American baseball leagues.[1] In South Korea, the bat flipping tradition dates back to the 1990s,[2] and has become increasingly frequent in the Korea Baseball Organization.[3][2] It is not considered disrespectful and there is no retaliation in the Korean League. In the Korean language, bat flips are referred as ppa-dun (Korean: 빠던), a portmanteau of the first syllables of the words for "bat" and "throw".[3][2] The practice is also common in Japan and Taiwan.[3]

Canada and the United States

In Canada and the United States, bat flips have traditionally been considered rude and inconsistent with baseball etiquette.[3] Traditional etiquette and the unwritten rules of baseball espouse humility and discourage actions which may be interpreted as arrogant or showing up the opponents.[4] Torii Hunter, a retired Major League Baseball player and fan of bat flips in Korean baseball, has stated that a player throwing a bat in such a manner during a game in the United States would likely face retaliation in a subsequent at bat, such as being hit by a pitch.[3] In April 2015, Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig stated that he would flip his bat less frequently because he wanted "to show American baseball that [he's] not disrespecting the game."[5]

José Bautista bat flip

During Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays, Toronto outfielder José Bautista executed what Andrew Keh of The New York Times described as possibly "the most ostentatious bat flip in MLB history" after hitting a go-ahead, three-run home run off Rangers relief pitcher Sam Dyson.[1] Bautista wrote an article about the bat flip published in November 2015 in The Players' Tribune.[6] He said he "didn't plan it. It just happened", and that he was "caught up in the emotion of the moment" when he flipped the bat.[6] Bautista was criticized for the bat flip, which he attributed to a failure to understand differences in cultural backgrounds of players.[7]

The Bautista bat flip became an internet meme.[7] Fans posted numerous responses to the event on Twitter, and shared videos on Vine and other social media websites and mobile apps.[1] It was etched onto jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween,[8] printed on T-shirts and Christmas sweaters,[9][10] and was also the subject of a thigh tattoo for an Oshawa, Ontario man.[11][12] It was also commemorated on a Topps 2016 Series 1 baseball card.[13] A corn maze in the Canadian province of New Brunswick was designed with the likeness of the Bautista bat flip.[14] In 2019, the Twitter account MLB GIFS posted a GIF of the bat flip after the Toronto Raptors won the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.

Presumably in retaliation for the bat flip, Texas pitcher Matt Bush hit Bautista with a pitch in the eighth inning of a game on May 15, 2016.[15] Shortly after being hit by the pitch, Bautista made a late, hard slide into Texas second baseman Rougned Odor.[15][16] Odor took exception to the slide and forcefully shoved Bautista.[17] Bautista stepped toward Odor and appeared to cock back his arm, when Odor punched Bautista in the face knocking his glasses and helmet off.[17][18] Like the bat flip, images of the punch stoked an internet meme.[18] Fans posted numerous images and references on Twitter, Vine, Reddit, and other social media websites.[18] Despite unverified reports to the contrary and despite relatively great demand for signed images, Odor refused to sign any image of the punch, but the image and related content has remained popular on the Internet.[18][17]

Cricket

In cricket, the term bat flip refers to the tossing of a bat, instead of a coin, to decide which of the 2 teams in a match will be given the option to decide whether it wants to bat or bowl first.[19][20] Additionally, instead of calling "heads" or "tails", the player calling the toss will call "hills" or "flats" depending on which side of the bat they think will land facing up (i.e., the flat side of the bat or the raised side of the bat).

References

  1. ^ a b c Keh, Andrew (October 15, 2015). "Baseball reaches a flipping point". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Kimes, Mina (October 4, 2016). "The Art of Letting Go: The great Korean bat flip mystery". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Keh, Andrew (September 2, 2015). "Bat flipping draws shrugs in South Korea but scorn in America". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  4. ^ Turbow, Jason (October 15, 2015). "On the benefits of embracing the moment, or: Not all bat flips are created equal". The Baseball Codes. Archived from the original on November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  5. ^ Hernandez, Dylan (April 14, 2015). "Dodgers' Yasiel Puig wants to cut down on bat flips". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Bautista, José (November 9, 2015). "Are you flipping kidding me?". The Players' Tribune staff. The Players' Tribune. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Jose Bautista says bat flip flap down to 'gap' between Dominican and North American players". CBC News. November 12, 2015. Archived from the original on November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  8. ^ Clair, Michael (October 18, 2015). "Jose Bautista's bat flip is now Halloween-ready as a jack-o'-lantern". Cut4 (Major League Baseball). Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "Scare Rangers fans at Halloween with new Jose Bautista bat flip T-shirt". The Dallas Morning News. October 15, 2015. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  10. ^ Singh, David (November 25, 2015). "Joey to the World: Bautista's bat-flip gets Christmas sweater". Sportsnet. Archived from the original on February 29, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  11. ^ Kestler-D'Amours, Jillian (October 16, 2015). "Toronto tattoo artist immortalizes Jose Bautista bat flip". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on November 19, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  12. ^ Szekely, Reka (October 23, 2015). "Oshawa man has no regrets about Jose Bautista bat flip tattoo". Oshawa This Week. Metroland Media Group. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  13. ^ "Jose Bautista's bat flip commemorated on Topps baseball card". CBC News. February 3, 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  14. ^ Monagan, Matt (August 31, 2016). "The Joey Bats Bat Flip has now been memorialized in a Canadian cornfield". MLB. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Bad blood: Odor socks Bautista to set off brawl". ESPN.com. May 15, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  16. ^ Rymer, Zachary D. "Rougned Odor Landed the Punch, but Jose Bautista Deserves Strong Punishment Too". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  17. ^ a b c "A year later, Rougned Odor has not allowed Jose Bautista punch to define him as a player". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  18. ^ a b c d "The 21 funniest memes from Rangers-Blue Jays brawl, including Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders". Dallas News. May 17, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "Bat flip to replace coin toss in this winter's Big Bash in Australia". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  20. ^ "Big Bash League: Bat flip to replace coin toss for 2018-19". BBC Sport. December 10, 2018. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
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