That the reason most of the team untucks the shirts is something this year that Mike Cameron started. They said his dad would do that every day when he came home from work (along with about 6.8 million other people) and that Mike has done it throughout his career as a tribute to him and as a symbol that the work for the day is done and that it’s time to relax. The rest of the team has just followed suit because, well, they’re young and impressionable?

I don’t see too much wrong with it either. I think that you’re about as uptight as a Catholic school nurse if you’re freaking out about a team untucking their shirts after winning a game. Or, fans of a team that just dropped four straight at home in a series they needed to win.

It’s uncomfortable to have a shirt tucked in, and I’m sure it’s worse if you’re all sweaty and gross from playing baseball. I see the untucking of the shirts as a comfort thing, just like when you get home from work and change clothes. That’s not disrespectful at all.

... but Jack Clark (the Cards’ version of Davey Nelson on FSN) actually referenced the untuck right after the game, in the lead-in to their Cardinals Live show:

He said that the Cardinals “came up against just a hotter Brewer team that’s firing on all cylinders, feeling good about themselves. They all untuck their jerseys at the end of the game, and jump around doing high fives, you know, doing that basketball hip-hop. They got it going, man.”

I can’t help but to wonder if this is the most demoralizing regular season series for a team that I’ve witnessed.

Game 1: Cough up a lead. Tie the game. Give up GW HR in the 10th.
Game 2: Cough up a lead. Give up GW HR in the 9th.
Game 3: Get shut out.
Game 4: Cough up a lead with a 9th inning GW HR.

Going into the series: 1 game up in the Wildcard Race
After the series: 3 games back.

Would be if one of the Brewers hit a walk off HR and then admires it, proceeding to untuck their shirt as soon as they touch home plate.

... I think it is a bit disrespectful. There’s a pretty strict code of conduct in baseball as to what’s permissible for a celebration: no watching homers, no slow-trotting homers, no excessive celebrations of strikeouts for pitchers. Seems like the only thing that’s generally accepted, after a regular-season win, is a high-five line. Anything beyond that, and you’re liable to get the tower buzzed in your next AB.

All of that said, I f’ing LOVE THE UNTUCKING. I mean, this franchise has had absolutely no identity for YEARS. It’s nice that we have something. Braun is becoming the face of the team and that makes us the brats of the NL.

If the Cardinals don’t want to see guys celebrate game-winning homers, maybe they should quit serving them up.

Pujols wears gaudy gold chains, watches his home-runs, and stares down pitchers, but I’ve never had a problem with it. He’s one of the better players in baseball and I think he has earned the right to be a little cocky. If Aaron Miles did it, it would probably be a bit more annoying. Cardinals fans need to accept that Braun is in the same league as Pujols, and can no longer be considered a rookie with a flukey first couple months.

As for the untucked-shirts, I think that’s awesome. Part of the charm of the ‘82 Brewers was the charisma and quirks of the players, and I think this ‘08 team is one of the first Brewers teams in a while that is similarly charismatic and actually looks like they’re having fun on the field. There is no “code” in baseball, think back through the history of the game, the great players/teams who don’t have a little showboat-confidence are by far the exception.

Every little thing can get under your skin. The untucking seems like it only became a problem recently, when the Crew has started heating up and this series happened. That’s probably why it’s become such a huge deal.

I never like watching HRs, whatever team, whatever the situation. That’s just a personal opinion…I think, you hit the HR, that’s all you really need to do. Showboating just drives me crazy.