That Moment When Eric Young Jr. Jumps For Joy

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

When Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers jumps and hops around on the field after he makes a play, it bugs me. When Eric Young Jr., now of the New York Mets, does the same thing, it bothers me a lot less. That is, of course, because he used to generate that same excitement with his energy when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies.

The Rockies stuck with Young through a number of years because they hoped to capitalize on his energy and his speed. They put up with the fact that he did not really have a position on defense. They were patient with his numerous blunders on the base paths. They gave him lots of at-bats to become a consistent Major League hitter.

Things never quite worked out, which eventually resulted in the team designating the fan favorite for assignment and trading him to the New York Mets for Collin McHugh.

So when Young made a diving play in left field and popped up with a bellow of excitement, that stung for Rockies fans because it seemed like he is finally doing the things we always thought him capable of; he’s just not doing them in a Rockies uniform.

Same goes for the moment in the bottom of the 8th inning when, with two outs, EY scored from second on a meek infield single to the right side. We always knew he had it in him, and frankly against any other team we would all be happy to see him succeed on his new team. Just not against the Rockies, and especially not when the team is mired in such an awful stretch. Between these two moments, Young’s heroics keyed a 3-2 Mets victory and pushed the Rockies to 1-7 on their current road trip.

When Eric Young Jr. scored the go-ahead run, he jumped about five feet in the air and pumped his fist. Any other player and we might find that to be showboating, but we know better with EY. But you better believe he was still making a statement with that celebration, and that statement rang just a little louder thanks to the current state of the Rockies.