Ah yes, the “unwritten rules” of baseball.

If you dare disrespect the game, the other team will get mad. Maybe they will bean one of your teammates in the next inning. Maybe the benches will clear and blah blah blah, etc.

Last Alex Bregman hit a bomb off Stephen Strasburg, then carried his bat to first base:

I love it. Here’s an actual display of emotion in a big moment.

But not to be outdone, Juan Soto hit a bomb of his own in the top of the 5th, then got a little bit of trollish payback with a bat carry of his own:

I’m all about this. We need more of this in baseball. We’ve got coordinated celebrations in the NFL, we’ve got Joel Embiid shimmying after NBA posterizations, and we’ve got whatever they do in the NHL. That considered, it was kind of disappointing to hear Bregman apologize after the game (via ESPN):

“I just let my emotions get the best of me,” he said. “It’s not how I was raised to play the game. I just let my emotions get the best of me and … yeah, I’m sorry for doing that.”

Asked what he thought of Bregman’s bat carrying, Soto laughed.

“It’s pretty cool. I want to do it, too,” Soto said. “That’s what I think when I saw that. I get the opportunity and do the same thing.”

Yes, thank you Juan Soto. We need some personalities in the game, some dudes who are gonna flip bats and/or carry them to first base, just something interesting. Every other sport allows this kind of stuff, yet we’re still arguing about unwritten baseball rules while World Series ratings stink.

Good morning.