Fansided

Yasiel Puig joins Bryce Harper in ‘Make Baseball Fun Again’ movement

By Andrew C. Lovell

May 3, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) at Tropicana Field. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 10-5. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
May 3, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) at Tropicana Field. Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 10-5. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Yasiel Puig pledges his support in Bryce Harper’s push to make Major League Baseball fun again.

Reigning National League Most Valuable Player Bryce Harper has been on the campaign trail since early April. Not for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, but instead for a simple, yet seemingly controversial, idea — to make baseball “fun” again.

The Washington Nationals recently drew a major supporter to his cause in Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star outfielder Yasiel Puig.

Puig, in a recent interview with ESPN’s Marly Rivera, declared his support for Harper and the “Make Baseball Fun Again” movement. On Saturday, Rivera tweeted a photo of Puig wearing a hat with the message.

Rivera recently spoke with Puig for a story that appears in the upcoming issue of ESPN The Magazine. In the interview, Puig calls Harper his “idol” and says players “have to make baseball fun for the fans and not take everything so personal.”

"“Bryce Harper is my idol now. I’m going to join him in the “make baseball fun again” campaign; I’m just waiting to get my shirts and baseball caps,” Puig told Rivera. “He’s always been a great friend and a great athlete, and I admire him. I like how he plays the game, and I think he gets it. It’s good to see an American player saying that there needs to be a little more fun in baseball. Fans leave everything behind to come and see us play. We have to make baseball fun for the fans and not take everything so personal.“It’s not about Harper or Puig making noise about it. In baseball, it is more common for a pitcher to punch you out three times than for you to hit the ball out of the park. So after you have struck out three times against a pitcher and you finally get a home run, bat flips are just an emotional expression — not about taunting the pitcher. That’s what Jose Bautista did [in Game 5 of last season’s ALDS]; he changed the result of that game with that swing. It was a big thrill for him, and he flipped the bat. He has always been a respectful player and only flipped his bat when he was overcome by emotion. Afterward, he was criticized as if what he did was wrong. But he had fun!”"

MLB’s newest generation of players has come under fire in recent years from some of the game’s all-time greats, including Goose Gossage, who ripped Bautista and said Harper has no respect for the game of baseball.

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