Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper caused a scene in the Washington Nationals’ dugout Sunday when they traded blows for all the world to see.
The teammates exchanged words after Papelbon seemingly grew upset with Harper for not running hard on an eighth-inning flyout, and the Nationals closer escalated the situation by trying to choke Harper against the wall. For that, Papelbon apologized after the Nationals’ 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
“First of all, I’ll say I’m in the wrong there,” Papelbon told reporters. “You know, I grew up with brothers, he grew up with brothers. I view him as a brother of mine. Sometimes in this game there’s a lot of testosterone and there’s a lot of intensity that spills over and I think that happened (Sunday).
“For me, I can’t allow that to happen in the middle of a game. You handle that after the games or allow the manager to handle that. In that light of it, I’m wrong.”
Nationals manager Matt Williams, who interestingly let Papelbon begin the ninth inning despite the incident, also chalked the fight up to “a lot of testosterone flowing” among competitive players. And Harper, who met with Papelbon before the media was allowed in the Nationals’ clubhouse postgame, vowed to turn the page, too.
“He apologized, so whatever. I really don’t care,” Harper told reporters. “It’s like brothers fighting. That’s what happened. And hopefully move forward and do what I can for the next six days to have fun and play the game.”
Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but Papelbon suggested after the game the Nationals could benefit down the road from the dugout brawl and the pair’s ensuing clubhouse conversation.
“It was a good conversation that you need to have when the situations and the heat of the battle spills over,” Papelbon told reporters of his chat with Harper. “‘Hey look, I’m wrong, you’re right. You’re right, I’m wrong.’ Let’s come back together and keep fighting together and come back next year and keep doing the same thing.’
“I think Bryce understands where I’m coming from and it’s squashed and it’s good and we’re going to move on.”
Winning solves everything, of course. And the Nationals haven’t done that as much as they anticipated this season, which probably played into the strange altercation between a polarizing 34-year-old veteran and an equally polarizing 22-year-old MVP candidate.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
