by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–After the bat flipping by the Texas Rangers Delino DeShields that lit Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner’s fire. For Bumgarner it was more disrespect of the game than it was showing the Mad Bum up. DeShields should have known better he’s a second generation player his father played many years in Los Angeles and Montreal for Jr. not to know better.

DeShields grounded out on a play on Friday night at the Ball Park in Arlington and flipped his bat in the air which tells the pitcher that he’s got nothing and DeShields is saying “I failed because I didn’t take you deeper and I didn’t hit that ball really hard.” Until you’ve actually done something in your career you really don’t have any room to show that kind of disgust and your failure to conquer the pitcher who is out on the mound.

Particularly when the pitcher on the mound has done things that people haven’t his own age has EVER done in baseball. Bumgarner has done enough to earn the respect of young players in the game. He will also tell you if you ask him it wasn’t even about him it was about the game itself. You have to respect the game in order to respect your choice of ways of making a living. Not to go out there and take action and make it seem like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do.

The Dodgers Yesiel Puig bat flip from last season that set off Bumgarner was part of that long revered rivalry. They both approach the game in different ways Puig is Latin, Caribbean, happy go lucky, a very outgoing personality and shows his feelings and how he feels at all times. Bumgarner is an old school rural agrian Southern close to it to his chest. Don’t let it anybody know what your thinking, don’t show any change in emotion on the field. Their just completely opposites of playing styles and personalities their both supremely skilled and from a baseball standpoint their fun to watch.

The Giants and Rangers series was a tight competitive series: Sunday’s game if your old enough to remember the 1962 World Series holding the runner in a situation where he could have scored. Maybe in 1962 the Yankees Roger Maris certainly would have scored but we know for a certainty that the Giants Nori Akoi would have scored if he had been sent.

On the other hand you got Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s reasoning and you got to like Roberto Kelly’s reasoning on what they did. You had one run in, you had the bases loaded, you were in the middle of a rally. There was no reason that was going to stop you and your most clutch hitter at the plate in terms of being Hunter Pence with the bases loaded. The chance of Pence hitting a fly ball to sac a run in you would have bet your house on it.

Michael Duca does commentary each week on the San Francisco Giants podcast for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below