Junior Lake’s youthful antics didn’t go over well with the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
The Chicago Cubs already trailed the Marlins by six runs in the sixth inning when the 25-year-old outfielder launched a two-run homer to cut the deficit to four. Lake started his home run trot with a sizable bat flip, and as he rounded third base, he directed a hushing motion toward Miami’s dugout.
Needless to say, the Marlins didn’t heed Lake’s orders, especially pitcher Jose Fernandez, who ran out onto the field to confront Lake.
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Here’s another look at Lake’s gesture, a rather bold move considering it was just his first homer of the season and 16th of his underwhelming MLB career to date.
Marlins pitcher Dan Haren, the victim of Lake’s homer, didn’t hide his feelings after Miami’s 7-3 win.
“The guy’s hit like, 10 home runs in his career,” Haren said of Lake, via MLB.com. “His team is losing 6-0. I think if you were to ask his own team, they would probably be embarrassed by it. His own manager probably was embarrassed by it. … It’s a little bit disrespectful to me. I didn’t like it. The team didn’t like it.”
Indeed, Cubs manager Joe Maddon had some critical words for Lake when asked about the incident.
“We don’t do that here and that will be the last time you see it,” Maddon told reporters. “I did tell them at home plate during the scrum. I told (Marlins pitching coach) Chuck Hernandez because that’s who I saw. I said, ‘It’s our fault and we’ll take care of it.'”
To his credit, Lake offered an apology after the dust had settled, adding that he respects Haren and “didn’t mean it.”
Thumbnail photo via Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press
