Is there such a thing as too much sportsmanship?
Sports Editor
Recently a video started making the rounds on the internet of a little league baseball pitcher high-fiving the batter who just knocked a home run off his pitch.
The broadcaster gave props to the pitcher for showing sportsmanship, meanwhile the upstanding citizens of Twitter went to town.
Multiple people called out the pitcher saying that he gave up every ounce of pride he had for telling the batter he hit a good ball. One former MLB player even stated that if his kid ever did such a thing he would rip the jersey off his back and tell him to be a water boy for the other team.
This brings us to the question: Is there such a thing as too much sportsmanship?
I’m all for kids telling there opponent good game after a hard fought match, but we should probably draw a line when it comes to certain in–game moments.
There’s no issue with telling an opposing player ‘Wow good hustle’ but telling the same player ‘great hit’ when he just took you yard might be too much.
One member of the Twitter verse stated that Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner would not have any of these sort of actions given his altercation
with Max Muncy back in early June.
According to multiple reports, Bumgarner didn’t like Muncy watching the home run he hit off the Giants ace and let him know about it. Needless to say creative words ensued as Muncy rounded the bases.
Don’t get me wrong, the last thing I want to see is Little Leaguers storming the mound like Mike Piazza, but there should be more self-pride when you’ve made it that far in a sport.
There’s always going to be someone competing against you. They may be better, they may be significantly worse, but no matter what let them know you’re not going to be walked over and then when it’s all said and done pat each other on the back and move on. There’s no need to uplift them, that’s why they have teammates.