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| 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?
