NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr., known for playing with flair, noticed when a Little Leaguer was suspended in baseball’s latest bat flip flap.
“I thought that was ridiculous. You’re going suspend a kid for having fun?” the New York Yankees All-Star infielder said Friday. “Crazy.”
Marco Rocco, a 12-year-old from Haddonfield, New Jersey, tossed his bat in the air on July 16 after his sixth-inning, two-run homer in the final of the sectional tournament for Haddonfield’s under-12 team against Harrison Township on July 16. His father went to court and got the suspension eliminated.
“If it’s a game-changing homer, it’s fine. Even when I’m on the mound, it doesn’t irk me. It’s a human reaction and it’s good for the game, just like a pitcher doing a fist pump after a big strikeout,” said Toronto pitcher Max Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner. “I side-eye someone if they hit a solo shot and their team is down 5-0. That doesn’t jive with me. I don’t like it when opponents or teammates do that. I feel the same way about Little Leaguers.”
Rocco was ejected for what his family was told were actions deemed “unsportsmanlike” and “horseplay,” and an ejection results in an automatic one-game suspension.
His father, Joe, is a lawyer and his dad filed suit. Judge Robert G. Malestein of New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the Roccos, and in the opener of a four-team, double-elimination tournament at the Deptford Township Little League complex. Marco went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts.
“I wish nobody would do a bat flip. I’m kind of traditional,” Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before adding, “But let him play.”
A staid sport for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, baseball has embraced emotion in recent years. José Bautista’s bat flip against Texas in a 2015 AL Division Series was featured in the video game MLB The Show 16.
“It’s a kid’s game, Whether you’re a kid or a major leaguer, we’re in a have-fun era,” Detroit catcher Jake Rogers said. “If you earn that moment, you earn that moment.”
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.
