Respect the game? Hurdle is out of touch

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Javier Baez flipped his bat, and Clint Hurdle flipped out.

The Pirates manager fashions himself as baseball’s Judge Judy, scolding those who don’t conform to his narrow view of how baseball players should act on the diamond.

Baez made amends with his teammates for a misdemeanor — flipping his bat in frustration and dogging it to first base after an infield popup Wednesday night. Veteran reliever Pedro Strop addressed Baez in private, and — unprompted — Baez said he felt bad about “the way I looked in front of the kids and anyone who follows me.”

Cubs manager Joe Maddon applauded his players for self-policing, calling it “a proud moment” and one that “galvanizes the culture” of the team.

That should have ended the story.

Yet Hurdle felt the need to chime in Thursday morning.

“You watch their kid flip that bat last night? Where’s the respect for the game?” Hurdle told reporters. “The guy hits four homers in two days, so that means you can take your bat and throw it 15, 20 feet in the air when you pop up like you should have hit your fifth home run? I would bet that men over there talked to him, because I do believe they have a group over there that speaks truth to power.”

OK, Judge. Thoughts on any other Cubs? Actually, yes. Hurdle apparently thinks he’s fit to manage both teams. He said of catcher Willson Contreras, who reacted angrily to a called third strike:

“The catcher ... he’s a talented young man. There is a day, he would have been thrown out as soon as he (gestured) that the ball was high.”

And then Hurdle again cited “respect for the game.”

As you can imagine, Baez’s teammates found Hurdle’s comments absurd.

“Four homers in two days and he doesn’t respect the game; you should have hit five, Javy,” Anthony Rizzo said loud enough in the clubhouse for everyone to hear.

Asked about Hurdle’s “respect the game” line, Kyle Schwarber offered a look of what on earth are you talking about?

Said Schwarber: “He is full of energy and loves the game, and the way he goes Pirates manager Clint Hurdle appears to have appointed himself baseball’s behavior arbiter. about it rubs off on everyone. Like today, we’re down 6-1 and he has a big smile on his face even though he’s 0-for4. He’s a really good human being and really enjoys the game.”

Baez found out about Hurdle’s remarks while showering after the Cubs’ 6-1 loss.

“I bust my ass every day to play hard,” he said calmly. “I don’t think anyone plays this game harder than me.

“If I have to apologize, I have to apologize to my teammates and my manager, not to the other team. We’re playing a game, we’re winning 13-something (Wednesday) and I think it got to him. We lost the series but we’re still the same. I’m happy; there’s music in the clubhouse. People who talk about me, they can save it. I don’t really care about it.”

Baez plays with a flair that most fans love.

Schwarber said before the game and before the silly controversy that “it’s so good to have him on our side. I got wowed every time by what he does. He’s the same guy every day, always having fun. Doesn’t matter if he’s 0-for-20 or 20-for-20.”

Maddon is of the generation as the 60-year-old Hurdle, who should have known better than to jump on an opposing player — two of them, actually.

Last year Maddon compared Baez’s flashy style to a Harlem Globetrotters player and said: “The moment you try to subtract from his joy on the field by making him into your perception of what he’s supposed to look like, you may lose a very good player.”

Maybe that’s what Hurdle wants and why he came down on Baez.

Guess what? It’s not his courtroom.

Baez only has to answer to his teammates, his manager and himself.