Is 'bat flipping' getting out of control?

Let it fly, Choi Jun-seok

• Published May 12, 2014 5:20 PM KST
• Updated May 12, 2014 5:20 PM KST

By Kim Young-jin

Some call it entertaining bravado. Others say it’s disrespectful.

Whichever way you see it, Korean baseball players are building a reputation for their epic “bat flips.”

If you’ve never encountered this act, it’s pretty much what it sounds like: After making contact with the ball, a batter flips the bat away, often sending it spinning several meters through the air.

This is often accompanied by some serious preening as the batter watches the ball as it travels.

Certain Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) players are among the world’s best _ or worst, depending on how you see it _ bat flippers.

Here’s a montage of six bat flips that occurred on a single night, May 10, complied and uploaded to YouTube by MyKBO.net, an essential English language site about the league.

We’ll leave up to you to decide how such moves would fare across the pond in Major League Baseball.

Of course, batters in Korea aren’t the only ones sending the bats flying. Remember this flip by Los Angeles Dodgers sparkplug Yasiel Puig in Game 3 of last year’s National League championship series? Puig has the rare distinction of celebrating two separate times on a single play.