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View Full Version : Major League Baseball and Post Game Sportsmanship


BigRedChief
10-11-2004, 08:14 AM
Why don't they do this? Hockey players shake hands. Football players mingle with each other after the game. Basketball players shake hands. Baseball players all the way through college ball shake hands after games. Why don't Majou Leaguers do this? Is this the first time?

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When it was over, after Jason Isringhausen (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/5449) struck out Alex Cora (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/6023) to put the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL championship series and eliminate the Los Angeles Dodgers (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/teams/dodgers), there was no immediate celebration by the winners and the losers didn't walk back to their clubhouse.
Instead, the Dodgers went out on the field to greet their conquerers and shake their hands.
"That's the first time I've seen a team doing that to the other ballclub when they were the losing ballclub, and I think that was very special," St. Louis star Albert Pujols (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/6619) said.
Pujols homered and drove in four runs Sunday night in the Cardinals' 6-2 victory, giving them a 3-1 win in the first-round NL playoff series and advancing them to a matchup with Atlanta or Houston starting Wednesday night in St. Louis.
"They're probably going to win the World Series," Dodgers closer Eric Gagne (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/6342) said. "We got beat by the world champions."
Not yet, but the Cardinals sure played like champions in advancing to the NLCS for the third time in five years, outscoring the Dodgers 22-12.
Jeff Suppan (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/5454) settled down after a shaky start to pitch seven strong innings and Pujols put the Cardinals ahead for good by hitting a tiebreaking three-run homer off loser Wilson Alvarez (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/4364) in the fourth inning.
"I think it was good sportsmanship, and I was glad to be a part of it. It's great for the game," Suppan said after the handshakes were over.
"Everybody just wanted to go out there and just wish them luck," Dodgers star Adrian Beltre (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/6039) said.
While common at the end of playoff series in the NHL, teams shaking hands on the field after a series is a rarity in baseball _ it happened after Minnesota's 10-inning win over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.
"I think it was a professional show of class between two very classy organizations," Dodgers manager Jim Tracy (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/1996) said. "To play this series the way it was played with the intensity it was played, it said a lot."

Deberg_1990
10-11-2004, 08:32 AM
Wow! I think thats great....ive always wondered the same thing..I think MLB should start enforcing this...the other pr leagues do it..why should baseball be any different??

Crush
10-11-2004, 08:36 AM
Sounds like the end to a made-for-TV baseball movie.


It's good to see professionals be professionals.

Bob Dole
10-11-2004, 08:37 AM
Wow! I think thats great....ive always wondered the same thing..I think MLB should start enforcing this...the other pr leagues do it..why should baseball be any different??

Because it's a league filled with crybabies?

Deberg_1990
10-11-2004, 09:01 AM
Nice to see a Former Royal (Jeff Suppan) deliver in a big game like that....congrats Supp!

Ultra Peanut
10-11-2004, 10:18 AM
I thought this was an impressive show:

dtebbe
10-11-2004, 04:48 PM
I thought this was an impressive show:

Smoltz is a warrior and a real team player. No whining, no excuses, he just does what the manager asks. They don't build em' like this any more.

DT