Korean baseball player Jung Hoon is the new king of bat flips

Korean baseball player Jung Hoon just raised the bar for bat flips.

We’ve seen bat flips immortalized on covers of magazines. We’ve even seen pitchers throw down epic bat flips. Well, ladies and gentleman, the game has been changed forever. Meet the new bat flip king: Jung Hoon.

Jung Hoon plays for the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball Organization. In the KBO, massive bat flips are seen as players expressing happiness. It’s a stark contrast to the general reaction in the MLB, where flipping a bat is viewed as showing up the opposing team.

Seriously, watch this bat flip by Jung Hoon while asking yourself, “how would this go over in my hometown ballpark?”

Wow! The only flip I’ve ever seen that even comes close was by Los Angeles Dodgers bad boy Yasiel Puig. Or as the legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully calls him after this whip, “the maestro.”

Notice though that Puig’s bat went into foul territory, while Hoon’s landed halfway to the pitcher’s mound.

Call it a hunch, but if Puig (or any other MLB batter) were to try the Jung Hoon bat flip in a game, bad blood would develop. I would only hope that if someone tried this in the MLB it would be after a walk-off homer.

See, I’m already putting restrictions on when a bat flip that flamboyant should happen in baseball.

Joon blessed the world with this marvelous move after giving his team a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning. I’m suggesting that if a MLB batter were brave enough to unleash this move in the eighth inning, he would need an umpire escorting him around the bases.

As much as I love Joon’s moxie, I don’t think the MLB is ready for it.