The straw that stirs the drink is stirring the pot again, and this time it's with today's players. That's right, Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson doesn't like the excessive amount of showboating he's seeing, with a caveat.
From Mr. October, via USA Today's Bob Nightengale:
"If you had talent, you could have style. There's nothing wrong with style. I had style when I hit (563) home runs. But you've got to build up some history."It's hard to nail down exactly who Jackson is talking about, as he doesn't offer up specific names. He does mention some guys not being as concerned with winning as they are with Twitter, so names of prolific Twitter personalities Logan Morrison, Brandon Phillips, Brandon McCarthy, C.J. Wilson and Chris Perez come to mind.
"What I'm seeing these days, and some of the arrogance, I feel like walking up, and saying, 'What's wrong with you? You can't play. That's not style. It's a goofy act.'
"I know it's entertainment, but if you have style and can't play, then you're nothing more than a fool. I see a lot of fools out there."
I have tons of respect for Jackson's playing career, especially his historic postseason performances, but it's hard to read the above quotes without coming up with far too many questions. It just feels like he's making up his own definitions of "style" -- especially since in one sentence he said a "goofy act" was not style and in the next sentence he said these players "have style" but just "can't play."
The reality is, the 66-year-old Jackson is probably just tons more mature than he was as an outspoken and wonderfully productive baseball player. And that's fine. I'm just not sure he should be taking the (anonymous and possibly even hypothetical) players to task for being as immature as he might have been at one point. The game has always had colorful personalities, no matter the generation.
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