Give it enough time and every team in the National League will whine about the Dodgers and their celebratory antics. The latest team to lodge a complaint against the Dodgers is none other than their current NLCS opponent, the St. Louis Cardinals.
It would seem that Adam Wainwright and Carlos Beltran are none too pleased that the Dodgers get animated when they do good things. Beltran was understandably annoyed by Yasiel Puig pimping what he thought was a home run but turned out to be a triple.
"As a player, I just think he doesn't know [how to act]," Beltran said. "That's what I think. He really doesn't know. He must think that he's still playing somewhere else.
"He has a lot of passion, no doubt about that — great ability, great talent. I think with time he'll learn that you've got to act with a little bit more calm."
Considering all the ink spilled by hand-wringing columnists regarding Puig's on-field antics, Beltran's comments are pretty mild. After all, Puig did make himself look a bit foolish with his premature celebration. If anything, Beltran is trying to give the kid some sage advice about reining in his emotions lest he make a fool of himself once again. There is certainly an element of Fun Police action there, but ultimately nothing too egregious.
And then Adam Wainwright opened his mouth:
Adam Wainwright: “I didn’t see Puig’s reaction. I saw Adrian doing some Mickey Mouse stuff at second, but I didn’t see Puig.”
— Pedro Moura (@PedroMoura) October 15, 2013
Yup, Waino is the new sheriff of the Fun Police it seems. He did not care at all for Adrian Gonzalez pumping his arms and screaming at his own dugout after he drove in the first run the Dodgers had scored in 22 innings. Wainwright's displeasure seems a bit much sense it Gonzalez was merely yelling at his own team, not taunting the Cardinals. As far as Dodger celebrations go, that is pretty tame, so give the guy a little room to be excited about the fact that he finally made a contribution in the NLCS. It isn't like Gonzo or Puig relieved themselves on the Gateway Arch… yet.
Even if you consider his complaint valid, one this is for sure: Wainwright should spend a little more time crafting his insults. Any Californian knows that the "Mickey Mouse" team in Southern California is the Dodgers' neighbor across the county line in Anaheim. Frankly, I expect a little bit more from the best pitcher for the best organization with the best fans in baseball.
Surely this will be the last we hear of anyone getting rankled by the Dodgers and their insistence on enjoying themselves while playing a game.
