Baseball is a game of eras: the segregation era, the deadball era, the steroid era. Each generation of players brings new styles and swaggers to the nation’s pastime.

Today, baseball is no longer the most popular sport in America; games have become longer, teams have too much of a focus on analytics and small market teams are not able to compete with big market teams.

However, perhaps the biggest issue in the MLB is the unwritten rule. One month ago, MVP Bryce Harper elaborated on this. He claimed how baseball is a “tired” sport due to baseball’s implied rule that a player needs to keep his personality in check.

Baseball must find some way to get rid of this, or else people will stop watching baseball. Baseball needs personalities like Harper’s in order to continue to draw interest from players and fans alike.

Harper makes baseball exciting because he plays the game with intensity. Whether he’s sprinting to first base on a routine pop fly, or stealing home off of an opposing pitcher, Bryce Harper plays the game the right way.

Yes, it’s understandable that his flamboyance can often lead to opposing players being embarrassed or appearing foolish because a player seems to show them up. If someone homers off you, the last thing you’d want them to do is gloat about it (coming from a pitcher).

But think about the fans. We love seeing a player’s flashiness when they celebrate and act like they’re enjoying themselves while playing the game they love.

The ever controversial bat flip is one prominent example of this conflict in baseball today. In game five of the ALDS last year, outfielder José Bautista launched a go ahead three run home run to seal the Blue Jays’ series victory and sent Toronto fans into a frenzy. After he hit the home run, he threw the bat 30 feet in the air and stared at the ball he had just crushed for a full second.

Moments like these are remembered because of the players’ emotions and the crazy atmosphere. They’re not remembered because of a suggested code of ethics that rejects players from expressing themselves.

While players expressing themselves makes baseball a lot more interesting, a limit should exist. If a player celebrates when he does well, he also has to accept defeat and avoid lashing out when he doesn’t. When a player is flashy, he only sets himself up to be humiliated when he plays poorly.

Baseball needs dynamic personalities in order to attract more fans and make the game that we all love more interesting. With all the young, energetic talent that baseball has today, this era has the potential to bring baseball back to its elite reputation.