Arizona Diamondbacks bring likable personality to make baseball fun again

Apparently criticizing meaningless bat-flips is the quickest way to get hate mail, but let’s be clear, the Arizona Diamondbacks make baseball fun with a likable personality.

One of the things that makes baseball such a great sport is the individuality it gives players and teams, from the Arizona Diamondbacks arrow shooting to the Los Angeles Dodgers bat licking.

The list of things that make the game fun is endless. From J.D. Martinez’s walk up song to Fernando Rodney’s arrow pose after a save, the Diamondbacks have a unique character. Most teams do.

No one is arguing against fun. Literally, no one.

Well, maybe the NFL, but even that’s getting better.

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Sure, criticizing a bat flip after drawing a walk sounds like the fun police, but let’s be absolutely clear: baseball is a game and it’s all about fun.

Yes, that includes Yasiel Puig licking his bat. Yes, that includes Todd Frazier giving a thumbs down to an entire crowd.

It even includes bat flips (when appropriate, which is subjective, but after a walk? C’mon guys!)

Anyway here are some fun ways the Diamondbacks add individuality to the game.

La Flecha’s cap and arrow

Rodney receives a load of hate for two reasons: his tilted cap and his celebratory pose.

First of all, why does everyone hate the cap? A new era of baseball was literally marked by The Kid’s backwards hat. If you supported that, you really can’t hate Rodney’s.

But, for those of you who don’t know, Rodney’s odd tilted cap is a tribute to his late father. In no way is it cocky or disrespectful, it’s meant to do the exact opposite.

Second, the arrow. After every save, Rodney crouches and shoots an invisible arrow into the sky. It’s like a bat signal and fans love it. But, it’s another tribute, this time to the small town he grew up in.

It isn’t about being cocky, or he would aim the ‘arrow’ at the team he just sent back to the dugout.

The Dab

This is everywhere, but no one dabs more than Chris Owings (just ask Jake Lamb).

It’s a little unconventional, not like a full dab, but a dab nonetheless.

Owings dabs for a double, for a triple, for an RBI, for home runs…whatever brings the team success. It isn’t every at-bat and probably never when he draws a walk.

He isn’t the only player that uses it, not even the only player on the Diamondbacks, as Robbie Ray has dabbed after a double and David Peralta uses it once in a while (with his Freight Train celebration).

Now lean back, lean back, lean back

Terror Squad anyone?

Before Peralta bats, he leans back with bat in hand.

It has swagger.

But, it isn’t the only way that Peralta brings his personality to the field. He picked up the nickname Freight Train after an announcer used the term to describe him running around the bases and it stuck.

Now, whenever Peralta deems a hit worthy, he adds the ‘choo choo’ motion.

When the team does well and Peralta is in the dugout, he is the first one to greet his teammates…or he tries to be. In added fun, the team hijacked his celebrations this season.

There are so many ways team have individuality. From tron-inspired uniforms that everyone else in the league seems to hate to licking your bat, it makes the game fun.

Bat-flips still need to chill (not stop altogether).

"Arizona Diamondbacks could teach the Dodgers a lesson about attitude"

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