Ian Kinsler's Quote About American Kids And Baseball Is Exactly Why American Kids Aren't Playing Baseball

this makes me wanna root for puerto rico □ https://t.co/EkXfDTejCz pic.twitter.com/qjg6umUjHM

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) March 22, 2017

For what it's worth, I don't think Ian Kinsler's quote was meant to come off as holier than thou as it reads. That's probably not worth too much since dissecting every syllable of even the most tongue-in-cheek responses is commonplace in 2017, but still - I would hope he's not as dumb as his words are sanctimonious. 

That's not even the point though. I personally don't care whether or the United States' representation in the 'World Baseball Classic' fancies themselves a more "respectful" bunch just because they keep a poker face while playing a kid's game. If Ian Kinsler takes some fictitious sense of pride in upholding the "integrity" of the diamond by stoically running the bases and following every unwritten rule that was put in place by the type of monotonously conventional players and coaches that are slowly nearing extinction then that's his prerogative. If he truly believes that being emotionally distant and lifelessly passionate is the "right" way to show  emotion and passion then who am I to tell him differently?  

Where he loses me - and every other casual baseball fan, for that matter - is not having the basic understanding that looking like you're waiting in line at the DMV as you play a sport for a living is exactly the kind of shit that turns off the youth that he's apparently trying to influence. That "no offense, but..." dig he took at the way Puerto Ricans and Dominicans play baseball is without question condescending. More importantly, however, it rings hallow. The rapidly decreasing amount of kids in the United States that grow up wanting to pick up a bat couldn't give less of a fuck about adhering to some antiquated etiquette by discreetly placing it on the ground upon contact. The fact of the matter is that children in this country would be far more likely to look up to someone like Ian Kinsler if he played/enjoyed the game like Javy Baez. Hoping that the next generation is paying close attention to how repressed American baseball players are is - in many ways - basically the same as hoping that the American baseball player becomes (even more of) a rarity.