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Yangervis Solarte with the bat flip of the year (GIF)

By Dan Zinski

May 13, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Yangervis Solarte (26) hits a solo home run against the New York Mets during the eighth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. The Mets defeated the Yankees 12-7. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 13, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees third baseman Yangervis Solarte (26) hits a solo home run against the New York Mets during the eighth inning of a game at Yankee Stadium. The Mets defeated the Yankees 12-7. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Yangervis Solarte executed what may turn out to be the bat flip of the year Wednesday night against the Mets. And it wasn’t even on a home run ball.

In the second, Solarte drew a base-on-balls and was so impressed by his show of patience that he flipped the bat away. The lumber seemed to hover in the air for a second, pinwheeling in place, before tumbling gently again to the earth.

yangervis solarte
yangervis solarte /

Solarte takes the bat flip to a new artistic level with that effort. Aesthetically, I don’t think it has ever been topped.

I’m not sure how the Mets felt about it, but I’m guessing they probably weren’t too impressed. To an opponent, a bat flip is just a bat flip.

Just a guess, but I imagine Joe Girardi will be having a talk with Solarte about the bat flip. There’s something really un-Yankees about the bat flip.

That stuff might fly for Yasiel Puig in Los Angeles, but New York is a different place. When you put on the pinstripes you take on a different level of responsibility to the game and the history of the game.

Girardi will probably attempt to impart that lesson to young Solarte. In the meantime, we can continue admiring his (probably last ever) bat flip. That was a truly great effort.

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