Bernstein: Kris Bryant's Cool Avoids Controversy
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) This could easily have been a morning of hot sports takes on the violation of yet another one of baseball's unwritten rules, kindled Monday night and burning through at least one news cycle. All Cubs slugger Kris Bryant had to do was show his face at the top step of the dugout and wave to his awestruck, vociferous fans.
Bryant had hit his third home run of the night, finishing off a record-setting performance that also featured two doubles -- the first such game of its kind in MLB history. This particular 5-for-5 evening with 6 RBIs and a team-record 16 total bases had never before been seen, and the crowd begged to be acknowledged.
Were it Wrigley Field, there would be no worries, but this was Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park. And despite the fact that this was some great American ball on full display in front of a throng at least as blue as red, Bryant took the high road in avoiding the merest possibility of perception that he was violating some kind of baseball protocol, even as teammates urged him to respond.
"Guys were pushing me out there," he told reporters afterward. "I've never been the type to show up an opponent or anybody. I don't think it's ever happened in baseball, and I don't want to be the first. I'm glad there are a lot of Cubs fans here, but I'm not that guy."
What this means is that we have finally found the limits of the Joe Maddon celebration culture, even as it's egged on by a group so ebullient as to need a designated party room in their clubhouse. It ran up against the naturally respectful personality of a budding superstar who chose in the moment to decline an opportunity to glorify himself.
"I'm glad my teammates are having fun with it," he said.
To be clear, this is not to judge what's objectively right or wrong in this case. Those were Cubs fans filling up that stadium, clamoring for Bryant's curtain call. Even if it's to the dismay of the home team (or its grumbling broadcasters), those tickets were available to be gobbled up by people motivated to attend. It's not like Bryant would have been emerging to bow to a handful of people cheering from the upper deck in an otherwise silent ballpark. One could argue that if a team thinks it's getting "shown up" by a player doing it, it can prevent such acts by being good enough at baseball to sell more tickets to its own fans and coupling that with better pitching that keeps the ball from sailing over the wall.
What's more, there actually is precedent. When Mike Piazza returned to Shea Stadium in 2006 as a member of the Padres and homered off of Pedro Martinez, the 45,000 Mets fans responded with a standing ovation that resulted in Piazza coming back out to wave to them. It matters that he was 37-year-old already beloved there for years of All-Star play, but it has happened.
After the game ended Monday night, Cubs TV voice Len Kasper anointed the milestone via Twitter, writing "June 27, 2016. The Kris Bryant Game."
It will be remembered indeed for all that Bryant did -- and also for what he did not.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
