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We’ve seen numerous incredibly savage bat flips over the years. Heck, we just saw one in January of this year. Bu Justin Neo of Hillsborough Community College just set the bar for the 2018 baseball season with one of the most ruthless bat flips we’ve ever witnessed.
With the score tied at 3 to 3, Neo came to bat with two men on and swatted a dinger so special he dropped an ungodly bat flip on the pitcher that his family will still be feeling generations from now.
And yes, I know a lot of baseball people out there are old fuddy-duddies who think bat flips like this are so disrespectful and have no place in the game. However, and here’s a little tip for all the young aspiring pitchers out there, if you want to stop someone from making you look foolish with an epic bat flip, don’t give up a game-winning home run. Man, I love teachable moments such as this.
There are certain rules to doing a bat flip though, if you do happen to hit a walk-off shot like Neo did (via MLB.com).
1. Don’t flip your bat toward the pitcher.
2. Don’t flip your bat at the pitcher.
3. Don’t flip your bat toward another position player.
4. Don’t flip your bat near the umpire. Yasiel Puig did this one time on a walk and it was super entertaining but everyone freaked out.
5. Don’t flip your bat into the opposing dugout.
6. Flipping a bat towards your own dugout is totally fine.
7. These are the most common spots for a bat flip to land. Getting into a little bit of open space also allows room for style points. Example:
They list a few more rules, plus they made some very snazzy charts, but you get the gist of it.
Here’s Neo’s walk-off…
Hawks win on another walk off HR 6-3!!! @JustinNeo_51 Player of the game Justin Neo! #letitfly @Hillsball @AndrewFabian260 @im_Ronnierich2 @HCCFL @jucoroute @PBR_JUCO @PBRFlorida pic.twitter.com/bd8RlOVGI8
— HCC Baseball (@BaseballHCC) February 11, 2018
Nice.
— HCC Baseball (@BaseballHCC) February 11, 2018