CHICAGO -- When Tim Anderson first saw “Bat Flipping 101” on the SoxFest schedule at 11:30 a.m. CT Saturday morning, he was a little unsure what to expect.

“Yeah, I don’t know how I’m going to teach through that. I mean, just throw it,” Anderson said during the SoxFest opening on Friday. “I don’t know what to tell them but flip it.”

Anderson was pleasantly surprised with the seminar results less than 24 hours later, as 100 kids presented their personal take on the flair and charisma shown by Anderson in the course of competition. Anderson started things off by providing an example on the mini-baseball field located within the kids zone.

• Watch Tim Anderson teach kids how to bat flip

A pitch would be thrown by Anderson, without an actual baseball, and the kids would take swings and then flip based on their anticipated results. Some threw the plastic bat for distance. One even tossed it over the net enclosure surrounding the field.

There was an especially talented young lady who perfected the bat flip/backflip combination in one continuous motion toward first base. One individual kissed the bat before dropping it, another popped his jersey and a few of the youngest participants simply let got of the bat and wandered toward first base.

Thirty kids who received a perfect 10 rating from Anderson made the semifinals, with seven winners eventually selected. The White Sox shortstop seemed to have as much fun as the kids, although with Anderson, bat flips just come natural and in the spur of the moment.

“You can’t really teach it. You just have to do it,” a smiling Anderson said after Bat Flip 101. “I definitely enjoyed this. I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out good.”

Anderson’s bat flip took on national prominence when he connected off Royals starter Brad Keller for a long home run in the fourth inning of a game at Guaranteed Rate Field on April 17 last season. That blast was also Anderson’s 50th career homer, leading to more of a bat javelin toss toward the home dugout and his ensuing exuberance.

Keller hit Anderson with a pitch during the sixth inning, marking Anderson’s next plate appearance, leading to a benches-clearing argument. Then, on April 26, Anderson concluded a four-hit effort with a walk-off home run off Tigers reliever Joe Jiménez, punctuating it with another pronounced toss.

Some people might not agree with Anderson’s form of expression in certain moments, especially those who espouse more of an old-school approach to baseball. But that disagreement doesn’t bother Anderson or his teammates, who thrive off Anderson’s spirit.

“Kids grab on to that and kind of enjoy that. Why not enjoy that? Why not grab hold to it?” Anderson said. “It’s fun. It’s something different. You aren’t just throwing and catching a ball. You are hitting a home run and being excited and flipping your bat. We are going to continue to do that.”

“I know there are a lot of people who don’t like that, don’t like the swagger or the way he celebrates things,” White Sox first baseman José Abreu said through an interpreter. “But as people were saying upstairs, as a captain of this team, I support him. I back him up, and I like him. I wouldn’t change anything in his personality.”

Neither would the plethora of kids trying to impress Anderson on Saturday. The winners posed with Anderson for three final shots: a normal picture, a picture where they were celebrating their bat-flipping abilities and one where they were just being silly.

After all, you can’t beat fun at the old ballpark, although Anderson won’t be incorporating a backflip or the worm, done post-swing by one young lady, into his in-season repertoire.

“No, I’m going to stick to my same plan. Just try to do something that’s fun that gets the kids into it. It’s what it’s about,” Anderson said. “It was dope. They pulled out their best, their 'A' game.

“I appreciate it a lot. It’s definitely changing the game. You can see it.”