Blue Jays’ Grichuk criticizes White Sox’s Anderson over bat toss vs. Royals

Martin Maldonado looks on during his time with the Royals. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

When Jose Bautista famously flipped his bat in celebration of a home run he hit during the 2015 ALDS against the Texas Rangers, it ruffled the feathers of the more conservative members in baseball’s establishment.

But that was to, essentially, clinch a playoff series for the Toronto Blue Jays. So, for the most part, his emotional response was excused.

Pimping out a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie in a mid-April game would probably be another story altogether, though.

Unless you’re Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, apparently.

On Wednesday, Anderson’s White Sox were taking on the Kansas City Royals and after taking Royals pitcher Brad Keller for a ride deep into the Guaranteed Rate Field seats in right, the 50th for his career, he decided to add an exclamation mark to it by emphatically tossing his bat and shout something out in a moment of pure jacked-up machismo.

The Royals didn’t take too kindly to this and on Anderson’s next at-bat, Keller plunked him, which ended with the benches clearing (but no hands being thrown) after which Anderson had a few choice words for Royals catcher Martin Maldonado on his way to first base.

Both Anderson and Keller ended up getting ejected once all the dust settled.

There’s a bit of history between Anderson and the Royals, as Anderson had drawn the ire of veteran Royals catcher Salvador Perez for celebrating a home run In much the same fashion in April of last year.

The delicate line between what constitutes an accepted celebration of a home run and what might be too excessive has been debated for years now, but a constant has always been that regular season jacks – particularly ones in April – shouldn’t warrant a bat flip/toss.

Anderson’s antics on Wednesday have appeared to reignite this age-old argument with even Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk criticizing what Anderson did, much to the Chicago infielder’s delight.

At only 25-years-old and just starting his fourth big-league campaign, Anderson is a relatively young player who has already made a reputation for himself as a guy who doesn’t care much about baseball’s old ways.

Grichuk, on the other hand, seems to prefer to adhering to baseball’s unwritten rules.

Toronto will see Chicago at Rogers Centre on May 10. Perhaps there will be more to be said between Anderson and Grichuk then.

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