Jeter and Teixeira weigh in on bat flips

Hall of Fame pitcher and former New York Yankees pitcher Goose Gossage had plenty to say in regards to the state of the game of baseball. After criticizing Jose Bautista, calling him "...a f---ing disgrace to the game...Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto" Gossage, in the same interview, also stated: "[Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing."  Unrelenting, he also had some solid advice for young and "disrespectful" star Bryce Harper: "So let me tell [him] something: go look at the history, figure it out and quit acting like a fool".

With his comments, Gossage, at 64 years of age, may have ignited a battle between "old-school" and "new-school" players in the league.

This morning, in an interview with Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira weighed in on the controversial topic:

I think we need to make this game more exciting, but I am old school. Listen, when Jose Bautista hits a huge home run to win the game, I have no problem with that. When it’s a 10-1 game in April and you have a guy dancing around when striking guys out, or [flipping a bat after hitting] a home run, that’s not respecting the game...I have no problem with Jose Bautista.

Recognizing the fact that the MLB needs to generate more interest with the younger demographic, Teixeira triumphed "situational" celebrations.  Taking a more indefinite stance, he stated that in "big moments", he has "no problem" in players' celebratory antics, but cautioned against the game "becoming a circus". From the historic visit to Cuba, The Captain, Derek Jeter, also diplomatically voiced his opinion on the matter, citing "personality", not "disrespect" at the heart of players' celebrations.

Obviously you're going to have old school players -- I'm one of them -- there's a certain way that you've played the game. The game's evolving, and you want people to show their personalities, you want them to be them. You talk about a lot of the Latin players, I think everyone talks about the Latin flair that they have, it's fun. You come out to games whether it's in Cuba, whether it's in Puerto Rico, Venezuela ... they have a good time and enjoy themselves. And you may not agree with it, you may not appreciate it, but the bottom line is I don't think they're doing it to be disrespectful. I think people are doing it just to show their personalities. There's always going to be two sides of it. I don't think you can say one side is right or one side is wrong.