Screen capture via MLB.com
Yasiel Puig is the arbiter of all baseball joy. This much is fact. So when it comes down to Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa smoking a solo homer against Puig's LA Dodgers in Game 2 of the World Series, who is Puig to rain on someone else's bat parade?Correa's mashed tater came as the second of back-to-back jacks in the top of the 10th in one of the more classic Fall Classic games you've seen in a long minute. You can't blame Correa for assuming that this would be the game-closer—boy, it sure wasn't—so this is how he treated his beat stick:It's less of a bat flip than a rocket launch. He really went for it. Correa then went on to wag his tongue in what might have been a wink and a nod to Señor Lengua himself.But Puig went on to make a statement of his own in the top of the 10th with a solo homer to put them within one run of a tie game (and calmly placed the bat on the ground). Enrique Hernandez then closed that gap with a two-out RBI single. But a two-run homer by Astros outfielder George Springer in the 11th was all the difference and it was Puig who ended the game, swinging over a Chris Devenski pitch to give the Astros a 7-6 win.But Puig wasn't salty either way. He said the following after the game, according to MLB.com reporter Joshua Thornton:
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Puig, despite the loss and heartache—and maybe even some people making fun of you—you remain baseball's eternal Springtime. Thank you, sweet prince."I loved it. It was a little bit higher than the bat flips I normally do. He was happy and that's the way you should play in the World Series. Not everbody gets to play in a place like this. It's good that he plays like that and it's good that Latino players are able to contribute that way. He wasn't batting too well and he was only getting a few hits and when he got the home run it was a moment for him to be happy. I'm glad to that he was able to celebrate that."