Sports Media

The Strange Case of Yasiel Puig

Milo Coulter / MLB / January 30, 2021

Yasiel Puig’s first week was one of the most impactful and improbable debuts in the history of sports. Never before had a player stunned a city in such a short time frame. In his third career game after coming off a two-home run performance, Yasiel Puig connected with a grand slam against the Atlanta Braves. Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully was stunned in silent awe. In that fateful week in June and the rest of his rookie campaign in 2013, he set the world on fire. It was Yasiel Puig’s world and we were living in it. So, what happened?

Well, for starters, baseball is stuck in the past. A game where old ideologies are preserved doesn’t allow players like Puig to exert himself into the forefront of respect. Baseball fans prefer calm, cool, and collected rather than showboating. This is the trap in which Yasiel Puig fell into, and is still struggling to get out of. The outfielder always has had a tendency to put his emotions before his playing, to the distaste of many baseball purists.

At face value, Puig is a slightly above average player. For someone who has averaged his last five seasons a .264 batting with a .792 on-base plus slugging, he sure gets talked about. He plays the game the way he was taught in Cuba, which means to be an entertainer on the field. And an overwhelming amount of people don’t like this.

There are many examples where he does show positive emotion after making an outstanding play or getting a clutch hit. This is not to say Puig is a standout individual. With these instances, the word immaturity gets thrown around. Current Astros pitcher Zack Greinke is just one example of a player who had an altercation with Puig. Let’s also not forget the time back in 2013 when he was arrested for going 100 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour zone.

Recently, an anonymous woman came out against Puig claiming she was assaulted by him during a Lakers game back in 2018. No updates have been provided, but the woman is trying to sue Puig for what happened.

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Puig hasn’t played on a baseball field since 2019 with the Cleveland Indians. He was signed to the Atlanta Braves before the 2020 season but was dropped after testing positive for COVID-19. Since then, he has received no offers to play.