Kangaroo Court: Settling the Yasiel Puig-Mets beef once and for all

Were the Mets right to be upset? Was Puig over the line?

In keeping with ancient baseball tradition, we're passing final and lasting judgment on a recent baseball controversy. That's why we call this Kangaroo Court -- it's a nod to the old days when a veteran player would preside over clubhouse "legal proceedings" and mete out fines based on baseball-related offenses. For instance, if you fail to advance a runner, take too long rounding the bases, wear the wrong jersey to batting practice, or in the case of former Red Sox manager John McNamara use aerosol deodorant as hairspray, you get fined by the judge. These days, the Kangaroo Court is a clubhouse relic of the past, but we're here to revive it and to bring the mechanisms of baseball justice to bear on present-day dust-ups, hostilities, and close calls. 

In this edition of Kangaroo Court, we're examining Wednesday night's kerfuffle out west between Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and the New York Mets. Essentially, Puig admired his home run from the batter's box and was told to go kick rocks by Wilmer Flores. Later, Yoenis Cespedes and Jose Reyes talked to Puig. We covered the incident in greater detail here.

The case for Puig

Baseball is supposed to be fun. Only a select group of individuals know what it's like to hit a majestic home run against a big-league pitcher. These individuals, however, seem to dislike whenever an opponent treats that accomplishment like one worth celebrating.

In Puig's case, he wanted to see how far the ball would go. You can almost ascribe his reaction to human instinct. Sure, you can check replays. You can ask teammates. Whatever. But there's something thrilling about watching a ball you hit sail toward parts unknown as it's happening. It's as if the player turns into a fan for a few seconds.

Add in how Puig's home run helped break the game open, increasing the Dodgers' lead from 2-1 to 5-1. That's a big swing. That's a swing worth feeling good about. 

Besides, the common retort here is that if teams don't like bat flips or any form of home-run celebration, then they shouldn't allow home runs. It's pithy but there's a lot of truth to it -- why should Puig have to act somber for outplaying you?

The case for the Mets

It boils down to this: Losing is annoying. 

Put yourself in Flores' place. You're on a baseball team that isn't playing well, and this dude -- who seemingly every team has an issue with -- decides to showboat after a home run that turns the game into a boat race. Wouldn't you be irritated? Wouldn't you let your temper get the best of you? Maybe not. But you can probably relate to Flores' reaction a little better if you try.

That's about all we have here. It's hard to play the "respect the game" card seriously when your teammate does the same stuff.

Four CBS Sports Judges weigh in

Jonah Keri: Burn all unwritten rules forever. If the Mets aren't happy with Yasiel Puig hitting bombs and styling, maybe they shouldn't suck so bad at baseball.

Dayn Perry: I'm ruling in favor of Puig, but it's not as clear-cut as it usually is. I don't have a problem with batter displays of bravado/enthusiasm, partly because there's so little opprobrium for, say, closers who point, shout, wildly gesticulate after strikeouts. Mostly, I just don't mind emotion and even showboating. It can be fun, and these aren't delicate Little Leaguers who need their feelings protected. 

What's interesting, though, is that Wilmer Flores took the most vocal exception. Usually, it's a U.S.-born player who gets rankled by "showboating," which, speaking in broad terms, is reflective of the differences in the respective baseball cultures. I'm not saying one way is better than the other; I'm just noting the distinction. Flores, though, is a Venezuela native, and that topples our usual assumptions about these kinds of conflicts. 

Like a lot of issues of code and player decorum, I prefer to leave it to the players themselves to sort out. I don't mind exuberance and even prefer it in some instances, but I'm cool with players on the field drawing the boundaries of what's acceptable, while noting that those boundaries are fluid and ever-changing.  

Matt Snyder: The hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me. Two specific wings of it, actually. 

First off, major-league players are held to some standard of machismo, both by themselves and by fans. A bunch of tough guys, right? Yet these so-called tough guys become a sniveling bunch of crybabies when someone on the other team dares to enjoy himself on a home run. 

Secondly, the people who get offended generally are OK with it when their team does it. Look no further than this specific example, where the Mets were really upset with Yasiel Puig. Yoenis Cespedes has never watched a home run? Really? 

It's exhausting to keep having this conversation. We'll probably still be having it for the next, oh, 40 years, too, because nothing says "I'm tough" like getting your jock strap in a bunch over how the other team reacts to success.  

"We're playing horrible right now. We don't need his s---," says Wilmer Flores. 

Yeah, I agree, Wilmer. You don't. Play better and quit acting like such a bunch of crybabies. This isn't Little League. You are professionals.

R.J. Anderson: Ultimately, it's much ado about nothing. I don't think the Mets react the same way if they were in first place. I think this is a case where they were at a breaking point, and just about anything could've tipped the scales. As such, I don't think Puig's staring was all that big of a deal. Respect the game, sure. But sometimes can't respect the game mean appreciating how tough it is to hit a long home run by celebrating when you tee off?

The verdict

We're all in favor of Puig here. The Mets need to chill. May this serve as a precedent for when this happens again -- and Lord knows, it'll probably happen again soon.