At some point, we all get old. And when we get old, we apparently forget about what it was like to be young. Case in point: Reggie Jackson, who tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today that he doesn’t like to see showboating among today’s players:
“What I’m seeing these days, and some of the arrogance, I feel like walking up, and saying, ‘What’s wrong with you? You can’t play. That’s not style. It’s a goofy act.’ “I know it’s entertainment, but if you have style and can’t play, then you’re nothing more than a fool. I see a lot of fools out there.”
I appreciate the “do something before you act arrogant” idea, but this is pretty rich coming from a guy who called himself “the straw that stirs the drink” in the Bronx before he even had a single at bat as a Yankee. Yes, he walked the walk. But he talked the talk first and has rarely ceased talking it, even many years after his career ended.
As for young players today: how dare they have fun!
