In a game versus Cleveland yesterday, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips hit a deep drive to put the Reds up by a score of 4-2. It wasn’t so much Brandon Phillips’ shot to payback his former team (the Indians gave up on him) that was impressive, but it how he celebrated it. It was as good as, or better, than the Orlando Hudson Ass-Slap Double Play. Watch below:
Typically, players will kiss their fingers and point skyward to give credit to a “higher power” a la Sammy Sosa. Brandon Phillips, however, marches to the beat of his own drummer. At approximately the 0:28 second mark of the video above, Phillips makes a money-throwing gesture. The fact that Phillips is paying respect to what makes the world go ’round is fresh smack that is so on time and truthful. If there are any external forces at play in influencing player performance, it’s the almighty dollar dollar bill, y’all. To me, this is exactly what baseball needs more of: posturing, hot-dogging and showmanship.
“At the field, off the field, I just try to make people’s days”
– Brandon Phillips, from “Trying to Draw Fans in a Baseball Town“
Watching Brandon Phillips “make it rain” certainly made my day. But not everyone shared my opinion:
Brandon Phillips does a make it rain gesture when he crosses the plate after a home run. I hate him so much.
— Matt Sikorski (@Sikorkasaurus) June 14, 2012
Nice wins by the Reds. Hopefully Brandon Phillips gets a fastball in the middle of the back during next week’s series. #POS
— Deslexia (@deslexia) June 14, 2012
Of course, haters gonna hate. If I were a Cleveland Indians fan, I would be hating too. Phillips went 8 for 13 with 7 RBI vs. his former team in the 3-game series. In fact, if you pro-rate Brandon Phillips’ career stats vs. Cleveland over 162 games, he’ll have a .356 average with 38 HR and 128 RBI.
You know what would be awesome for the #Indians? Not trading Brandon Phillips for a player to be named (Jeff Stevens, I looked it up).
— Reece White (@ReeceWhite79) June 14, 2012
Follow up: Jeff Stevens career – 37.1 IP, 1-0, 6.27 ERA, all with #Cubs. Phillips career – slightly more productive. #Indians — Reece White (@ReeceWhite79) June 14, 2012
For a small-market city such as Cincinnati with finite resources, it’s refreshing to see a player like Phillips turn the Queen City into Rack City – or is it “Rake” City? Although my dream of a Yunel Escobar/Brandon Phillips Blue Jay infield is certainly dead, sometimes fantasy is better than reality. My hope is that someday a Blue Jay not named Yunel will “step up” and provide the fans with what they want – no – what they need: showmanship with vigor; theatrics with panache.
[youtube U1CxU6_Me_c]Images courtesy of MLB.com and Twitter – except for the Obama .gif, which came from a dark, musty corner of the internet.