Minnesota Twins Dugout Cusses out Jose Ramirez for HR Bat Flip
Baseball's unwritten rules are kind of the Hummel figurines of sports.
They're quaint little arrangements. They don't have any real function. But they look nice on the mantel and give the room that sharp, mothball tang people just can't get enough of.
And like Hummel figurines, you don't touch or tamper with baseball's invisible laws—or you will get bawled out like Jose Ramirez was by the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.
The Cleveland Indians shortstop belted a three-run homer off of Ricky Nolasco in the bottom of the eighth of Cleveland's 10-2 win over Minnesota.
From a baseball perspective, it was a nice, justice-y moment for Ramirez. After all, he was the guy the Twins preferred at bat. Minnesota had walked Jason Kipnis to get to Ramirez, who then pieced one off all the same.
Perhaps this is why Ramirez had a bit of fun with the homer. He looked it over the wall and dropped a particularly juicy bat flip on his way to first.
Of course, the Twins weren't happy with this. In lieu of worrying about Nolasco, who tallied a 5.97 ERA over two innings pitched on the night, the Minnesota dugout focused on Ramirez as he rounded the bases.
Some amateur lip-reading of the Twins dugout:
"Bush whick."
"Get your fudge on the wheel."
"Fun is for me, my brother."
"Beef tank."
If there was any confusion about future fun the Twins now have in store for Ramirez, Nolasco cleared that up at the postgame conference.
Per Cleveland.com's Zack Meisel: "It was horse s--t," Nolasco said of Ramirez's celebration. "He'll get his. Don't worry."
Ramirez told reporters he was just caught up in the moment.
"I noticed that they got a little bit upset because of my reaction," Ramirez said. "Sometimes the emotion in the game possesses you...If they hit me, I'm going to take it."
So there you go: You hit a home run in the MLB and enjoy it, you just have to sit there and take whatever battery or attempted homicide comes your way.
That's just the non-rule of baseball.
Dan is on Twitter. He hopes Ramirez flips one so high it comes down covered in Mars water.
