Are homerun celebrations getting out of hand?

Much is being made now about over-zealous homerun celebrations and the reactions they get from the opponents.  I first came across this article on mlb.com about the Giants getting “irked” about a couple of homeruns in which teams exhibited in the Giants’ opinion, “unprofessional” behavior. 

One was the actions of Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, the other of Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres.  Giants starter Brad Penny, who gave up the four-bagger, thought Gonzalez lingered a bit too long, admiring his work before making the trot.  

I saw the video of the Gonzalez homer and honestly, I didn’t notice it.

Now, USA Today has picked up on the story.  And they have a pretty damning photo of Fielder’s antics to go along with it, too  The story is compelling with good examples etc etc..

But it makes me wonder if this story has taken a life of its own.  Does it merit this much attention? 

Two thoughts that popped into my head regarding this rather unimportant issue (in the grand scheme of things):

One, mlb.com covered this a few days ago.  The same news source that recoils at anything controversial.  Normally, the cynic in me would surmise that MLB is just trying to perhaps generate controversy/interest/rivalry in the midst of a postseason hunt but the teams involved are not near the top of their division. 

Two, god forbid should this story take off to the point that MLB feel that they need to “do something about it”.  Professional baseball has enough regulations already and a lot of them range from unnecessary to a hindrance.

Some of you watch more baseball games from different markets than I.  Is this really a problem?  And why is MLB so worried about it?

NL Gold Gloves announced

The NL Gold Glove awards were announced yesterday.

Not a lot of surprises.  Maddux won his 18th award in the year he plans to retire.  Rollins, Beltran, and somehow David Wright seemed to sneak in there again.  Nate McLouth won his first Gold Glove and first Pirate to do so since 1993 when Jay Bell did so.

I admit I’m not familiar with Adrian Gonzalez’ fielding exploits at first base.  Is he REALLY all that better than NL competition at his position?  Considering who’s out there, I wonder.  Except for first base, every NL player who won the Fielding Bible Award, also won a Gold Glove.  Albert Pujols won a FBA at first this year.