Commish cooks Goose on MLB opinions

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred says this generation of players will make its own unwritten rules on what emotion is acceptable to show on the field.

Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, a New York Yankees spring training instructor, criticized Toronto star Jose Bautista last month for his bat flip during last year’s playoffs, telling ESPN he was “a disgrace to the game.”

The 64-year-old, who pitched in the major leagues from 1972-94, also told ESPN that Washington’s Bryce Harper “doesn’t know squat about the game ... no respect for it.”

“I think to the extent that you believe, and I actually do, that Bryce Harper is a spokesman for this generation, I suspect you will see more exuberance from our players on the field,” Manfred said Thursday.

Bautista memorably flipped his bat after hitting a three-run homer that gave the Blue Jays the lead in the seventh inning in Game 5 of the AL Division Series against Texas.

“He’s entitled to have his opinion. I don’t happen to agree with him on this particular topic,” Manfred said of Gossage.

“Goose and his peers developed a set of unwritten understandings about what was acceptable on the field when he played the game, and I think the generation of players that are on the field today are going to do the same thing.”