Legitimate baseball fights are largely a thing of the past, but every once in a while, we get an old-fashioned brawl to get the juices flowing.
The San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals provided that for us all Monday in a big way, thanks in large part to San Francisco reliever Hunter Strickland and Washington outfielder Bryce Harper.
A good baseball fight is like an onion, as there are plenty of layers to peel, and Monday’s fracas was no different. Let’s dig in a little deeper, shall we?
THE FIGHT
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THE HISTORY
If the fistfight wasn’t already an indication, these two really don’t like each other! The beef between Strickland and Harper appears to date back to 2014, when the Giants and Nationals met in the playoffs.
Harper did this to Strickland:
And then he did this.
If you pay close attention to that second home run and Harper’s trot around the bases, the Nationals star appears to direct a little bit of side-eye toward the pitcher, and maybe even a word or two.
Fast forward to the spring of 2016, when Harper was all about “make baseball fun again” and all that. Strickland had this to say, per the San Francisco Chronicle (as pointed out by CBS Sports):
“I don’t think it’s my place to go against the rules. It’s America’s pastime for a reason. There’s a history to the game. I don’t think it’s my place to judge the rules.”
Until Monday, that is.
THE PITCH
If you’re going to throw at someone, 98 mph in the back pocket is a pretty good way of handling your business.
Probably didn’t tickle, though. Look at how far down the third-base line that ball went after hitting Harper.
EVERYTHING ELSE
Now, the fun part.
— It didn’t take home plate umpire Brian Gorman long to realize the stuff was about to hit the fan. Obviously, these situations escalate quickly, and there’s not a whole lot a 57-year-old umpire can do to stop two world-class athletes from throwing hands in the middle of a field. But it’s still kind of funny to see the exact moment Gorman says “Screw it.”
In fact, it’s kind of interesting to watch all the umpires in a situation like this. The protocol seems to be “Let them handle their business while taking stock of who’s involved and who’s escalating the situation” and then go from there.
— Everyone’s making a big deal out of Harper’s helmet toss. And admittedly, the optics aren’t great. Like, if you’re this close to another human with the goal of throwing something at them and you miss, especially when part of your job description is to throw things, it’s not a good look.
But maybe Harper just reinvented the charging the mound game. The helmet slips out of his hand and takes a hard right turn. But maybe this should be a lesson to hitters charging the mound in the future. Maybe the play is to charge the mound and turn and square up to the first baseman and throw the helmet at him.
As we’ve seen over the years, it’s only a matter of time before infielders join the fray. Just ask George Bell.
Ol’ George could have saved himself a form tackle from Mo Vaughn had he impeded the Hit Dog’s progress by throwing his helmet at him. Harper might be ahead of his time.
— Giants first baseman Michael Morse probably would have preferred that, anyway. He wasn’t slowed down at all, which was bad news for both him and Jeff Samardzija.
— One of the other big storylines from Monday’s fight was Buster Posey’s involvement in the whole thing. Or, more accurately Buster Posey’s lack of involvement. The Giants catcher surprisingly stood idly by as Harper charged his teammate and tried to assault him.
Kind of weird, no? Normally catchers will do all they can to try to intercept the hitter before he gets to the pitcher. Yet Posey just stood there despite it being clear as day that it was about to go down.
Only Posey knows for sure why he didn’t do more, but it makes you wonder how much support Strickland had from his teammates. Coincidentally, something similar happened when Manny Machado charged the late Yordano Ventura, and Salvador Perez took his time getting out to the mound. But at least Perez did something.
— An unofficial record was set for most hair involved in a bench-clearing brawl.
Finally, we the answer as to what it would look like also got the answer to what it would look like if Zac Brown Band and the cast of “Duck Dynasty” fought each other.
— Strickland didn’t really get any good shots on Harper, other than this apparent slap to the face.
— Strickland was, somewhat understandably, out of his mind during the entire brawl. His Giants teammates eventually were able to remove him from the pile, probably for his own good as he seemed intent on ripping out someone’s vital organs right there on the mound. A pack of Giants had to essentially carry Strickland off the field and down the dugout stairs to get him out of there.
It takes a lot to make Hunter Pence look like the normal one.
Screen shots via MLB.TV
Thumbnail photo via Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports Images
