Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Benches Clear in Washington

It's not the first time in Bryce Harper's career that he has been thrown at, and it certainly won't be the last. In a 1-0 game, the Washington Nationals had Anthony Rendon on second with one out in the bottom of the fifth against the Atlanta Braves. The Braves were trying to hold on to their eleven game win streak and the tension was building. In the third inning, Bryce Harper launched a home run to straight away centerfield. The ball was absolutely crushed. After Harper hit the ball, he took a few steps down the line, watching the ball, before he tossed his bat to the side to begin his trot around the bases.

Bryce Harper dug into the batter's box in the fifth inning looking to add a much needed insurance run against the dominating Julio Teheran who had been accurate and affective all night. The first pitch to Harper hit him square in the right thigh at 94 miles per hour. Bryce Harper tried to avoid the pitch it came so far inside that he had no chance of getting out of the way of the pitch.

Harper began to yell and point in Teheran's direction letting him know his displeasure in getting hit. He removed his batting helmet while continuing to bark at Teheran. Braves catcher Brain McCann took offense to the words Harper used against his pitcher. Harper was restrained by the first base umpire and continued to walk down to first base. The benches and bullpens both emptied but quickly went back since no physical contact was made by either team.

There are many reasons why Bryce Harper reacted in that manner and why the incident happened. The day before Braves outfielder Justin Upton hit a go-ahead homer in which he took 28 seconds to jog around the bases which completely showed up the Nationals. Upton hadn't even reached first base before the ball had reached the stands. Bryce Harper took 24 seconds to get 360 feet around the bases for his home run. The Nationals didn't throw at anyone when Upton showed them up but when the 20 year old Bryce Harper hits a home run and takes forever to get around the bases, the Braves choose to throw at him.

Bryce Harper was asked about the incident after the game and he responded by saying,"It was something he's got to do. It's part of the game." When a reporter asked if he expected that from the 22 year old Teheran and he said, "I hit that ball pretty far off him so, no, not really." Harper also said he wasn't going to go any farther than what he did. He said that being 14.5 games back in the NL East is something he has thought about and needed to stay in the lineup even if the pitchers are going to throw at him. He explained that he would just go down to first base and say some choice words before moving on. Harper also said that he would have done the same thing that McCann did as a catcher to go out an stand up for his pitcher.

The incident was not only a problem on the field but also off the field and on Twitter. The official Twitter account of the Atlanta Braves (@Braves) tweeted "Clown move bro". They were referring to the time that Harper responded to a question about drinking in Canada by saying "That's a clown question bro." The social media blew up after the National account responded by saying "@Braves Which part, giving up the home run, or drilling the 20-year-old on the first pitch his next time up?"

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