The Bernstein Brief: Easy, Junior
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) I have been increasingly finding myself on the other side of the "play the game the right way" baseball police, because the game's self-appointed etiquette enforcers too often come off as anachronistic reactionaries, if not latent racists.
But Cubs outfielder Junior Lake acted the fool Wednesday night, and I expect manager Joe Maddon to use this as another teaching moment for his young, talented team.
A bat-flip is fine most of the time. Enjoy yourself. It looks stupid when you are losing by four runs, though.
And if somebody is yelling at you, you have to take it. If you're pimping a homer, you have to be prepared for some blowback. If you're overreacting by shushing the dugout as you jog by -- when you initiated the entire sequence and at the moment are trailing 6-2 in the sixth, you're a clown.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.