Dodgers Continue 17-Year Tradition of Rockies Spankings; Baseball Speaks Up on Silly Celebrations

What is it about the Dodgers? They've got the Rockies nailed, right in their minds! Not that the Dodgers came in playing bad baseball or that the Rockies came in super-hot, but it always seems that whatever little thing the Dodgers need to do to win a game against the Rockies, that's the little thing they do. In the finale, it was defense. There were at least three game-saving, spectacular defensive plays by LA last night... any one of those plays doesn't happen, and the Rockies probably win that game. Sigh, it's the loser's lament... "if only."

The Rockies bats, the main problem in The Beard's view so far this season, seem to be working a bit better lately. Hopefully that will carry over on this road trip, but Tim Lincecum is never a good guy to face in Game 1, when you want to get your hitting off on the right foot.

The Beard would like to divert from Rockies talk for a moment, to mention all the silly Home Plate celebrations that have taken place in the last few years, and that they finally took their toll. I know that as a Beard Who Has Surveyed The Universe, I may have seen more than most, and therefore might not get as excited as some of you, but these celebrations at home plate have been getting out of hand. When you win a huge game in September, or clinch a playoff series with the final at-bat, then yeah, go ahead and celebrate it, because that's freaking awesome.

There are 162 games in the baseball season, although you wouldn't know it by the way teams today celebrate a last-inning victory in the middle of May. Lately, when a guy hits a home run to win a game at any point in the season, he flips his bat, points into the dugout, trots around the bases like he's walking up to accept his Oscar, and then all his teammates meet him at home plate hopping around like idiots like he was Bill Mazeroski. This practice has become more and more prevalent in recent years, and The Beard was hoping it would just go away before something bad happened.

No such luck.

Baseball demands a certain demeanor of its players. It demands that they do not put themselves above The Game, and punishes -- often severely -- those who do not comply (see Rose, Pete). When you think you're bigger than the game, The Game puts you in your place. Do you think that Baseball likes these showy, chest-pounding celebrations over nearly insignificant wins? No, It does not. Do you think Baseball would just let that happen without consequence? For a time, yes, because Baseball is nothing if not patient. But we knew the end of this respite must be drawing close, and the other night, Baseball said its peace.

The emotion is fine, but weigh it against the situation. Drop the bat, keep the helmet on your head, and keep your head down as you round the bases. The guy on deck may greet you at home plate, but the rest of the high fives & hugs stay in the dugout, until September. That is Baseball's message to us, via Kendry Morales's horribly broken ankle. Let's hope we listen, lest a broken ankle be only the first sign of Baseball's wrath!

T.B.