Oakland A’s first baseman Mark Canha made some waves Saturday night after pimping his go-ahead home run off Giants reliever Tony Watson first with a bat flip, and then by exclaiming “My house” as he walked into the A’s dugout.
Mark Canha used OBLITERATE. (It's super effective!) #BayFlip pic.twitter.com/uUJwW93Nwf
— Oakland Athletics ??⚾️ (@Athletics) July 15, 2018
Canha initially apologized for this apparent breaking of baseball’s unwritten rules, but then took it back almost immediately.
“People getting offended by bat flips is so silly,” Canha said. “I’m not sorry. I’m not really sorry.”
Thoroughly enjoyed Mark Canha (@outtadapakmark) rescinding his apology for a bat flip. He could win Game 7 of the World Series with a bottom-of-the-ninth home run, and it still wouldn't be a better walk-off than: "If you're offended by that, I don't care." pic.twitter.com/Hy6aYTu9CU
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 15, 2018
Following Canha’s comments, there was some discussion as to whether or not the Giants would retaliate in any way, especially considering the fact that multiple Giants players had been hit by pitches in the series’ first two games. Ultimately, nothing happened, but Giants broadcaster and former pitcher Mike Krukow told Murph & Mac on Monday morning that he would have at least fired a warning shot.
“Well I mean I’m an old pitcher from a different generation and I definitely would’ve moved his feet,” Krukow said. “I’m not saying I would’ve thrown the ball at his head or hit him but I definitely would let him know that I’m out there. Tony Watson was asked about it and he said ‘Hey, he hit the home run that put his team ahead.’ He did want he wants.
“I think guys in this generation they’ve accepted it’s part of it. As to the comment that he made when he was walking back from home plate to the dugout about this being ‘my house,’ we kind of laughed about it. Like wait a second this guy’s a .230 hitter or something here in this ballpark. That ain’t exactly putting up a flag saying it’s my house. But he did hit the home run that gave his team the lead and eventually the win so he was feeling pretty froggy.”
Krukow also said that Canha’s actions were an example of the increased intensity of this year’s Bay Bridge Series.
“It does say that both teams brought incredible intensity into this series. I loved it, I thought the baseball was pure. This is exactly what they envisioned when they talked about having interleague play, and the fact that the Giants have a natural rival, six miles away across the Bay, it’s a very cool concept to bring these two teams together, but it only works when they are pushing hard to get to the playoffs. To me that’s when it intensifies. And certainly that’s the case now and I thought it was a pretty righteous series.”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow on Canha, start from 9:50.