Dae-Ho Lee's bat flip somehow expressed both excitement and ennui at once
Baseball players may not have a purer expression of joy in their toolkits than the bat flip. With a simple flick of the wrist, a player can simultaneously follow his bliss and signal to fans his happiness.
Nowhere are bat flips more commonplace -- or glorious -- than in the KBO, so when former Mariner Dae-Ho Lee hit a dinger to give his Lotte Giants an 8-7 lead, he let his bat fly:
Dae-Ho Lee (Lotte Giants) just hit a big go-ahead HR to make it 8-7 Giants on a crucial pennant race game. Enjoy the bat flip as well. #KBO pic.twitter.com/uBmiT1CbPT
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) September 26, 2017
The Giants did not look back, as they went on to win 11-8.
Upon further review, however, it appears that the bat flip may be something of a red herring. Observe Lee's face in the (first) slow-motion replay in the following video:
MyKBO's favorite home runs from the two games on September 26th featuring a big one by Lee Dae-ho, @adburns10 and more pic.twitter.com/nBlqeOxaJt
— Dan Kurtz (@MyKBO) September 26, 2017
This isn't exactly the face of a joyful bat flipper:
It appears, then, upon final examination, that Dae-Ho Lee has successfully completed the first bat flip in history to simultaneously express joy and ennui.
