Bryce Harper vs. Hunter Strickland was the prize fight in Monday’s massive brawl between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. But the undercard produced the biggest blow of the day.
The Giants placed first baseman Michael Morse on the seven-day concussion list Tuesday. How did Morse suffer a concussion, you ask? Well, when he charged in from first base Monday to defend Strickland, he plowed headlong his teammate, pitcher Jeff Samardzija.
A slo-mo replay of the collision is all the evidence you need for how Morse got his concussion.
Underrated aspect of Jeff Samardzija and Michael Morse colliding here is Samardzija actually punching Hunter Strickland while doing so. pic.twitter.com/88iKvXQto1
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) May 30, 2017
Morse and Samardzija are no small fellows, either. Morse is listed at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, while Samardzija also stands at 6-foot-5 weighing 225 pounds, making this the equivalent of two heavyweights simultaneously knocking each other out with crushing blows.
Now we know why Buster Posey decided to hang back.
“That’s the unfortunate thing about these brawls you have,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday, via CSN Bay Area. “Guys are running in and trying to break it up and here (Morse) gets hurt trying to break things up, so he’s down for a while.
“… When you see those two collide, he got caught in the side of the face and jaw area. That’s a big man that hit him. I’m not surprised. When you watch that collision, it was pretty violent.”
Harper, meanwhile, was thankful Morse took the brunt of Samardzija’s damage instead of him.
Bryce added he's appreciative Michael Morse got in there & ended up stopping Samardzija from landing one. "I'm very thankful for Mikey Mo."
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) May 30, 2017
Thumbnail photo via Kelley L Cox/USA TODAY Sports Images
