“Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion,” Bryce Harper and the 2015 Nationals

Buck Showalter said of Papelbon: "He kind of reminds me of the wrestlers who pull somebody's hair and then they throw their hands up."

lol

ahhhahahahaha, yes

@MLB_PR
WSH RHP Papelbon has received a 3-gm suspension for intentionally throwing a pitch in the head area of Manny Machado.

Hoping for save situations in each of the games he's out (and losses in all others, obv).

papelbon-harper fite!

omg lol etc

Wonder how that would have played out with Harper the attacker from above.

Spencer Ackerman ‏@attackerman 58s58 seconds ago
Fitting that Papelbon's first instinct vs Bryce was... Wait for it... To choke.

pls fight strausberg/scherzer next

fuck a reliever telling the mvp to run out a popup

hope they change that error on trea turner to a hit so all five of pap's runs are earned

loved the espn article title "NATIONAL DISGRACE" before i realized it was a play on the team name

obviously the most impt story from that game though is back-to-back HRs from desmond (den) dekker

I don't think I've ever disliked a player as much as Papelbon, even when he was on the Red Sox.

Just watched it. I'm not saying Papelbon's right and Harper's wrong, but it does remind me of something from Ball Four: you're only as smart as your ERA. I forget the specifics, but I think it was a journeyman having an argument with a star player, and Bouton was pointing out that it didn't matter what the journeyman said, he wasn't winning that argument. So Harper's the league's MVP, a billion dollar property, and Papelbon's a reviled jerk who's worn out his welcome. But I wonder how that would be perceived if it were Harper getting on Papelbon for not hustling.

i think the issue is more that papelbon was the one who escalated it into a physical fight. i mean of course the fact that he was attacking the league MVP and the franchise cornerstone for what is likely a decade to come means he toast obv.

if harper was the one who escalated it i think papelbon would still be getting hate but i don't think it would potentially end his career with the team.

Yeah--it was Papelbon who lunged at him (at his throat, no less), I guess that's the issue.

http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2015/09/27/mlbtv_phiwas_505505983_1200K.mp4

Apology:

"First of all, let me say, I'm in the wrong there," Papelbon said. "I've got to leave that up to our manager.

"I've talked to Bryce and told him how we feel and we're on the same page now, which is good. Squash this and (play) tomorrow's game. 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 today. 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."

You could take that at face value, or not. Obvious the Machado thing lurks in the background here.

i guess bull durham has taught us all not to throw punches with our pitching hands, but grabbing at someone's throat seems like a strange reaction to me

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/414papgrabsharpbyneck.jpg

u wan play spies

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CP9ySspVEAAp2G1.jpg

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/794522/images/o-ASHAMEDANIMALS-facebook.jpg

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/09/28/former-players-think-papelbon-was-right-wha

come on, cj

@jay_jaffe
SMH. focusing on quallity of Bryce Harper's hustle shouldn't the issue when HIS ASSHOLE TEAMMATE TRIED TO CHOKE HIM IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

Like Papelbon wasn't motivated 100% by revenge.

Did he ever pull anything like that with Ortiz, Ramirez, Howard...?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CP_xlV_VAAIQLBV.png

mark derosa otm

it's like papelbon learned about calling out a lack of hustle from a babelfish translation of a misspelled brian mccann facebook rant

@jay_jaffe
SMH. focusing on quallity of Bryce Harper's hustle shouldn't the issue when HIS ASSHOLE TEAMMATE TRIED TO CHOKE HIM IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
― Andy K, Monday, September 28, 2015 10:55 AM (18 minutes ago)

unless harper was bragging about sleeping with pabelbon's partner or something i have no idea why it matters what they were arguing about

i guess this Friday's NYM-WAS game i have tix for might be suspenseful after all

unless harper was bragging about sleeping with pabelbon's partner or something i have no idea why it matters what they were arguing about

Absolutely. I kind of missed the throat-lunge initially; it makes everything else irrelevant.

@LaTroyHawkins32
@CJNitkowski loved the article CJ, Pap will take a beating for this from everyone who doesn't play the game. #EntitlementGeneration

kids these days think they *deserve* not to be choked

it's like papelbon learned about calling out a lack of hustle from a babelfish translation of a misspelled brian mccann facebook rant

― nomar, Monday, September 28, 2015 11:09 AM (50 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol so otm

Also see Showalter's quote above -- top step as turnbuckle.

wtf Latroy Hawkins.

The 'play the right way' shit from old-timers is extra bizarre since this is the first season Harper hasn't hurt himself for hustling too hard.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQAeJAVUsAIuFBW.png

Today's lineup -- the Nats' last home game. Thanks, fans!

Taylor CF
Turner SS
Rendon 3B
Robinson 1B
Ramos C
Moore LF
den Dekker RF
Uggla 2B
Scherzer P

@MarcCarig
So, Harper had a scheduled day off, and now it’s being labeled as a benching. This guy is amazing.

tbf the nats fans are some of the worst in baseball, so maybe they deserve dan uggla starting at 2B still being in the major leagues

they are?

ha, well it's obviously anecdotal, but every game i've attended there has been dismal. i chalk it up to DC being such a transient place. feels like the nats are everyone's second favorite team there.

better that than real-life hatcats/caps/terps fans

not sure how the nats are going to finish this game without their closer

don cherry is weighing in on the papelbon affair; i'll bet you (canadians) can guess where he stands

given that papelbon has authority as judge and deliverer of punishment, and that he judged harper to be guilty of not hustling enough, the only question left was whether the sentence would be an immediate choking, a suckerpunch in the locker room, or a spinning Zangief-style piledriver into a pile of empty fragile crates in the corner of the room.

(xpost) Ditto Don Cherry Jr., Gregg Zaun, who says that Harper would have lost his MVP vote over this incident. You read that right the first time.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQFbOIJVAAA1fDX.jpg

judge lee judge