As summer temperatures are rising, so, too, are the tensions between Major League Baseball teams and players. On Sunday in San Francisco, Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner went seven innings against Los Angeles, allowing one run and taking a tough-luck loss to the rival Dodgers 1-0.

His performance on the mound was impressive, but the one run he allowed was a 426-foot moonshot homer to Max Muncy in the first inning. It was the first time that the Giants (26-38) lost a 1-0 game since June of 2015 -- Bumgarner was also the losing pitcher of record in that one.

After launching the long ball, Muncy flipped his bat, admiring his still-rising round-tripper which eventually landed in the waters of McCovey Cove. He then walked a few steps before beginning his slow jog around the sacks.

Bumgarner, a veteran who didn't much like the fact that Muncy, 28, was still around the batter's box when the ball splashed down, walked toward first base to meet up with the Dodger and give him some less-than-friendly advice.

"You don't watch the ball, you run," Bumgarner shouted, according to Muncy. “I told him if you don’t want to watch me run,” Muncy continued, “you can go into the ocean and get it. I yelled at him, he yelled at me."

How great is that exchange? That's baseball at its finest: batter and pitcher forever pitted against each other in every aspect. But Muncy's slow trot (clocked at 27.44 seconds versus the MLB average of 22.85) ignited Bumgarner, and that somehow makes him an enemy of the movement to allow for more flair in the game. I contend his fiery reactions are just as important to allow as the bat flips and slow cruises around the bases for home-run hitters.

For all of Major League Baseball's attempts to finally move forward from the stiff unwritten rules it has long lived by, they have missed a key point in the crusade.

While commercials promoting the game's brightest young stars tend to use the phrase "let the kids play," they seem to only want the batters to do the "playing." Bumgarner rightfully says he should be allowed to play in the way he wants if the batter can put on a mini-performance after a big fly and before a trot ever actually begins.


"I can’t even say it with a straight face. The more I think about it, I should just 'let the kids play,' " Bumgarner, 29, told reporters after the loss. "That’s what everybody is saying, but I can’t. He just struck a pose and walked further than I liked. That’s fine. If you want to do that, do it, but I’m going to do what I want to do.

"They want to let everybody be themselves. Let me be myself. That’s me. I’d just as sooner fight than walk or whatever. Just do your thing. I’ll do mine."

Baseball at any level is better off left alone. Alone, as in the players should be the ones deciding how a game unfolds, not the umpires and not the commissioner's office. When baseball organizations (including MLB) try to steer the game in any direction, it almost always veers off the intended course.

When players are allowed to be themselves and police themselves, it becomes the game it was intended to be: one which has the magical rare ability to right all wrongs, to settle all scores.

Babe Ruth played the game when it was as rough and rowdy as ever. Still, the Great Bambino saw a trend coming down the tracks he didn't care for.

"Baseball changes through the years," Ruth said. "It gets milder."

In the game of baseball today, the mildness is losing ground to the madness. Thank the baseball gods for guys like Bumgarner.

Mad-Bum said what all the old-school baseball fans have long thought: if you dish it, you won't have a choice but to take it.

Travis Jaudon is a sports reporter for the Savannah Morning News. Follow him on Twitter @JaudonSports and contact him at 912-652-0353 or tjaudon@savannahnow.com.