Why Yasiel Puig is the Most Important Player in Baseball.

Dodgers Right-Fielder Yasiel Puig.

Anytime something seemingly come from out of nowhere and is legitimately fun or exciting, there’s always an inevitable backlash. Only a few weeks after Juno premiered in 2007 there was already hordes of internet bloggers criticizing the dialogue and claiming the movie was overrated. Also, during 2011’s “Tebowmania” every ESPN analyst and commentator not named Skip Bayless quickly proclaimed Tebow the worst starting quarterback in the history of the NFL. Further, there’s already a current backlash against Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” claiming it’s sexist and plagiarized. Those both may be fair points, but I’m tired of people telling me the first time they heard “Blurred Lines” they instantly knew Thicke and Pharrel sampled Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it up.” Really? You listen to Marvin Gaye that often that you can tell when someone used a small portion of one of his baselines in a rap song? But I digress. Being a contrarian allows people the opportunity to be (or think they are) the smartest guy in the room. Even more, joining a backlash at its early stages makes you sound like a genius. Currently in Major League Baseball there’s a backlash against Yasiel Puig. Analysts claim he’s fundamentally flawed, journalists claim he has an attitude problem, and both current and former players say he’s overhyped and has little respect for the unwritten rules of the game.

 Puig’s ascension to fame occurred in early June of this year. Puig quickly became a Sports Center and YouTube sensation, thanks to his awe inspiring right field throws and monster homeruns. In just 26 games in June, Puig hit .436 with a .467 on base percentage and a .713 slugging percentage. He even won the National League Player of the Month Award. However, with the upcoming All-Star game approaching, players and analysts were quickly speaking out about why Puig didn’t deserve a spot on the National League team. Believe it or not, this vocal backlash actually worked, causing Yasiel Puig to lose the final spot on the N.L. All-Star team to Freddie Freeman. What’s more, throughout July and August the powers that be in Major League Baseball continued to downplay Puig’s accomplishments. All-Star team aisde, the backlash against Puig matters because baseball desperately needs him. Puig’s not just a five-tooled baseball player, but an all-around athlete on par with the greats of any other sport. Puig’s a lightning rod that gets casual fans interested in the game. More importantly though, he has the athleticism, personality, and marketability needed to get young people interested in baseball again. However, baseball might end up destroying Puig before he’s able to become a true superstar.

Athlete: Males from the ages of six to twenty six love emulating their favorite athletes. With all of our pent up energy and aggression, it’s no wonder why guys spend their leisure time trying to dunk like Lebron or run like RG3. We may never be great athletes, but it’s still fun pretending we are for a few moments. However, baseball during the recent past has given us very few guys who are fun to emulate. I remember growing up in the 90’s trying to swing the bat like Griffey, field like Omar Visquel, or run like Kenny Lofton. However, most of the established stars of the past ten years have been ace pitchers or hulking hitters. As great as Justin Verlander or C.C. Sabathia are, they don’t spend a lot of time running. Additionally Robinson Cano constantly jogs to first base and Miggy Cabrera is always on the verge of being moved to DH. The steroid era of the early and mid-2000s gave us a lot of bulky power hitters, but not a ton of all-around athletes. Twelve year-old me doesn’t want to spend all day swinging around a bat, twelve year old me wants to run too. However, with Puig, baseball has a five-tooled player who’s electrifying to watch and fun to imitate. Puig feels like an all-around athlete. He runs like Bo Jackson, fields like Willie Mays, and throws like Vladmir Guerro. His game stands as a counter-argument to the growing portion of Americans who think baseball’s boring. Puig’s a guy who leaves the game with his body sweating and his jersey dirty. Young people see Puig’s diving catches and surely recognize their on par with any great catch made by Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones. Puig has strength, speed, and coordination.  It’s a different game, but to play like Puig requires a similar amount of athleticism as any top football or basketball player. Puig is bringing the athletic side back to baseball and that’s important for its future growth.

Star-Potential: Baseball has done an awful job marketing its stars over the past ten years. Where the NBA overly markets its stars sometimes to the detriment of team loyalties, Major League Baseball has not created a national household name since David Ortiz. My mom doesn’t know who either Albert Puljols or Roy Halladay are. Nor does she know about Buster Posey or David Wright. I’m talking about stars who are known throughout the country to non-sports fans. No matter how hard you try, you can’t turn on the TV without Aaron Rodgers or Blake Griffin telling you who they are. Of course, baseball’s emphasis on the team aspect of the game is a noble thing. Still, American kids are growing up are constantly told how important individualism and self-expression are. Further, we’re currently and for the foreseeable future in a Kardashian- America where fame and notoriety are more important than real achievement. I’m not saying that’s a good thing and baseball should still keep its team-first aspect, but they should also simultaneously market their players so their well known to Americans.  If young people have a chance to know who the best players are and think their cool, they’ll aspire to be like them. Hopefully, Puig can become a star on the same level as Jeter. Puig’s young and, as mentioned before, a supreme athlete. However, Puig also has swagger. He often leaves the top button on his jersey unbuttoned and gives a signal to the heavens after every homerun.  Additionally, Puig is a showman. He occasionally adds theatrics to some of his catching and base running that’s not always necessary, but certainly entertaining. His flair for the dramatic is equal to Deion Sanders or Terrell Owens in their respective primes. Despite all the “unwritten rules” Puig is probably breaking, his game shows how much fun playing baseball can be. Something baseball has had a hard time communicating in the recent past. Contrary to what all the baseball traditionalists might think, baseball players should be entertaining as well.

Right-Time, Right Place: In particular, baseball has failed to properly marketing their Spanish-Speaking superstars of the past decade. Sure Mariano Rivera, Sammy Sosa, and David Ortiz all became household names, but how many non-baseball fans are truly aware of how great Miggy Cabrera is? Puig was born in Cuba and his first language is Spanish, so marketing him may not be as easy as Bryce Harper. However, the Spanish-speaking population of America is growing rapidly every day. Certainly placing Puig in Spanish language commercials would both reach and play well will a large segment of the current American population. Additionally, Puig’s story as a Cuban defector who floated on a raft to Mexico in order to become a MLB free agent sounds right out of Hollywood. With so much of our young baseball talent being composed of middle class good ole boys from the South with reserved personalities, won’t Yasiel Puig back-story be refreshing? Moreover, Puig’s a young guy with a winning smile, making him a great asset for Madison Avenue. Futher, Puig’s playing for a big-market franchise. However, he’s also playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the exact right time. With the Lakers in rebuilding mode and no NFL team residing in the city, the Dodgers are currently the talk of the town. What’s more, the Dodgers are back to being a glamour franchise. With a huge television contract, Magic as a partial owner, and depths of talent, the Dodgers should be contenders for the foreseeable future.  Of course, the Dodgers haven’t exactly made Matt Kemp a major star, and he’s an American who previously dated Rihanna. Hopefully, Puig’s dynamic and oft discussed rookie season will be the perfect launching point for his future status as a pop-culture icon.  

All of this of course assumes Puig’s rookie year is not a fluke. Some of the criticisms of Puig’s game are actually true. He constantly swings at bad pitches and misses’ cut-off men from time to time as well. Additionally, his brash ego may stop him from taking advice from colleagues who simply want to see him succeed. These flaws could ultimately  prove too much to overcome, and Puig could turn out to be just another above-average player.  However, it’s important to remember Puig’s only 23 years old. He’s still a raw talent, but has all the intangibles necessary to be a hall-of-famer. Puig has to learn plate discipline. Additionally, like any other twenty-three year old he has a little growing up to do. Missing a 4:00 p.m. practice is not acceptable, even if you were hanging out with Lebron the night before. However, with the right mentoring from Don Mattingly, Puig gives me little doubt he’s the real deal. Longtime baseball fan Larry King said last week on Colin Cowherd’s radio show that he has the potential be the best pure baseball athlete since Roberto Clemente.  

The fact that there’s even a backlash against Puig is an exicting thing as well. Casual fans are talking about this guy. Like Johnny Manziel, people may not be sure if they like him, but they find him interesting and are excited to watch him play. However, those who make their living in the baseball industry have to stop telling everyone to curb their enthusiasm. Why should we? Instead, baseball should promote Puig as much as possible. Most baseball fans would rather hear about Puig than hear another story about players getting busted for PEDs. Speaking as a baseball fan under the age of 30, Puig is making me excited to watch baseball again. Why are the controlling interests in baseball trying to stop this?