Oakland Athletics’ Fan Poll: Would You Rather Have Players Who Play With Swag Or Passion?
By Steven Luke
During the September 19 broadcast of the Oakland Athletics game, broadcasters Glen Kuiper and Eric Chavez discussed at length Houston Astros center fielder Carlos Gomez and the issues other teams have had with him.
They showed a recent clip of Gomez hitting a long fly ball for an out, and flipping his bat against the New York Yankees. This struck Yankees catcher John Ryan Murphy the wrong way and he got in Gomez’ face to let him know about it.
This is a common occurrence with Gomez, to the point where if you were to google his name and the word fight you would find pages of videos.
What you wouldn’t find while googling videos is a common occurrence during A’s games, helmet slams by right fielder Josh Reddick.
If you watch broadcasts of the A’s games you have undoubtedly witnessed the A’s right fielder slam his helmet and other acts of displeasure, but what you have not witnessed is A’s broadcasters talking about Reddick’s antics on the field.
That brings up a question, which would you as a fan rather have on your team, a player who plays with swag or a player who openly displays his displeasure?
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Both have their negative sides. They say confidence breeds confidence, but it is also true that cockiness breeds cockiness. Playing with the level of swag that Gomez plays with could catch on to other teams and when you’re too cocky, you can look past your opponents. But in the same regard, negativity is contagious. When a team is infected with negativity, they can get too down on themselves. A’s fans have witnessed Reddick slump when he gets upset with himself ,and if that spread to multiple teammates, the result could be disastrous.
Even though both attitudes can cause a negative outcome, they both have positives as well. While it can be said that Gomez is cocky, he always has a smile on his face while doing it. Being happy at work makes your job easier, and if Gomez’s attitude makes his team happy, then it is going to keep the team loose and make playing easier. While Reddick’s helmet slams can be viewed as negativity, it could also be viewed as playing with passion. If you look at it as passion, then there is nothing wrong with loving what you do and wanting to be the best at it. There are times when players look like they don’t even care when they strike out, but you always know that Reddick cares.
Gomez claims his teammates have no issues with how he plays and no one on the Athletics has ever complained about Reddick, openly at least, so why is there an issue with either type of player?
Sportsmanship. From the beginning of life in baseball, players are taught to be good sports and neither style is considered good sportsmanship. Although players are trained from an early age to be good sports, players who play with swag or who show off their displeasure are all over the league to the point where every team seems to have one. So, if you have to have one on your team, A’s fans, which do you want?