The St, Louis Cardinals are still up in their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship, but after LA got the win on Monday night, some Cards players were peeved with the excessive celebrations from Yasiel Puig and other players, including Adrian Gonzalez
According to ESPN.com, one player that felt the celebrations were excessive was Carlos Beltran, who said after the game that he feels that as a young player, Puig is still learning how to act on the field. The big controversy with Puig and Beltran came in the middle of the game, as Puig launched a ball to right field that looked like it was gone and he stepped slowly out of the batter's box with his hands raised over his head in celebration and then he realized it was not out of the park and he rushed in for a triple.
Puig has been hit with that charge a few times during the regular season and while he ended up safe on third base in Game 3, if he is not hustling out of the box, he could get thrown out in a crucial situation and with the way the Dodgers are scoring, that could be devastating to the team in certain situations.
Beltran said that he did not like the way Puig handled himself and that while he has a lot of "passion" that he needs to learn more about how to act like a professional. Beltran said that he is just doing his job, but that he was not a fan of how he celebrated the hit from home plate. The 22-year-old is still not yet a full year into playing in the majors and even though the Cardinals have a 2-1 series lead in the NLCS, things could change quickly in Game 4 with Ricky Nolasco on the mound if they get another great game from Puig.
Dodgers players remarked that they understand why Puig is as exuberant as he is and Don Mattingly has said that he doesn't want to stunt his enthusiasm for the way he plays, including on hard throws to first from the outfield, stretching singles into doubles, but the home run exclamation could have been a very big mistake if he was thrown out.
