In an interview published today with Tim Keown, ESPN the Magazine, Bryce Harper, the 2015 NL MVP player, had some things to say about the state of baseball. Take a look at some excerpts from the article quoted below and see what he has to say (if you want to read the entire article, go to Sorry Not Sorry).

Baseball’s tired. It’s a tired sport because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is you know boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game now who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Manny Machado or Joe Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig — there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.

Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernande will strike you out and stare you down into the dugout and pump his fist, And if you hit a home and pimp? He doesn’t care. Because you got him. That’s part of the game. It’s not the old feeling — hoorah –if you pimp a homer. I’m going  to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot…I mean — sorry.

If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun. You want kids to play the game, right? What are kids playing these days? Football,, baseketball. Look at those players — Steph Curry, LeBron James. It’s exciting to see those players in those sports. Cam New Newtown — I love the way Cam goes about it. He smiles, he laughs. It’s that flair. The dramatic.

According to the article, Harper’s talking about “baseball’s old-school thinking — the unwritten rule, The Code, a century and a half of shut-up-and-play,” and calling for “a game in which players respect each other and retain the right to express themselves fully without fear of a fastball to the ear hole.”

So what do you think?

Is Harper on to something, or should baseball stay as it has been?

Leave your thoughts in the Comment section.