Harper v Hamels

Couldn't find any mention of Hamels' deliberate plunking of Harper anywhere else. If there is a thread somewhere please delete this one.

Wanted to get people's opinions on Hamels deliberate plunking of Harper?

I have a few questions. Why did he do it? What had Harper done to deserve it? Is a 5 game suspension for Hamels enough?

My take. I don't see why he plunked him. There is no history between the two players - although a rivalry is developing between the Nats and the Phillies as the Nats challenge the recent order. I liked the fact Harper stole home on Hamels later.

Zimmerman hit Hamels later in revenge.

I don't get why Hamels admitted it was deliberate. I understand that mlb then gave Hamels a 5 day suspension. But a 5 day suspension for a SP amoungts to nothing. They can just push his start back a day. An 8 or 9 day suspension would ensure he missed his turn in the rotation but not a second start.

Opinions?

Dan

Not sure what Harper did to tick Hammels in particular off, but heck, he's ticked off so many people it's more a case of who hasn't he ticked off!

I found this quote from the Nats GM Rizzo hilarious:

If he hasn't questioned Harper's character, he's the only guy in baseball that hasn't!

To put it simply Harper is a spoiled brat with attitude who thinks it's cool to showboat and show other players up, this won't be the last time he gets plunked, and the next one might not be as carefully placed!

Harper has already developed a bit of a reputation as having a big ego. Going by what Hamels has said he also seems to be getting a lot of close calls going his way even though he is still only a rookie. I think a good comparison is Mike Trout who, depending who you read, could prove to be a better player than Harper. Even though he has all that talent he is viewed as being more down to earth and less arrogant. He doesn’t seem to be getting close to the amount of abuse/criticism as Harper has.

I think Hamels wanted to make a statement to Harper and maybe the Nationals as well. Harper then stole home on him and Zimmerman then hit Hamels later in the game and that should have been the end to the incident but Hamels was an idiot and came out and admitted it was deliberate.

In terms of punishment then 5 game ban fits in with previous suspensions although I agree it should be longer for pitchers as in theory Hamels might not miss a start which doesn’t seem right. I remember Josh Beckett was given a similar suspension after throwing at the head of Bobby Abreu a few years. That was really a disgraceful incident and he should have been punished more severely but the Umpires didn’t even throw him out game. If I remember correctly Abreu got a RBI hit that proved to score the winning run in the game so at least he got a bit of revenge.

5 games for a starting pitcher just dosn't seem enough but it all depends on the case in question.

I'd make a basic starting pitchers ban be for 10 games so he at least misses 1 start and it messes the rotation up a bit

I think 10 games in this instance would be enough, we've seen people being thrown at for years and it wasn't like it was aimed at the head or anything, it did just seem to be a case of welcome to bigs you wont have things so easy against me (the fact he stole home later probably irked Hamels somewhat as well though)

Yea dont see a massive problem with Hamels doing it - admitting it was stupid, but the act was very much a "bring you down a peg or two" type thing.

Should be a 10 game ban though yea as its not really caused any disruption to him or the Phillies.

Can anyone provide any examples of what exactly Harper has done to deserve his reputation of poor character, big ego, etc? The only thing he has done wrong is play hard and be talented!

People cite the incident where he hit a home run and blew a kiss towards the pitcher. Yes that is disrespectful, however noboby reports that his action was in response to the pitcher giving him the finger, pretty convenient reporting.

Saying all that there was nothing much wrong in the old school action Hamels took. Harper replied in the best way possible by stealing home (mature and professional way to respond, an ego would have charged the mound) and that should have been the end of it. The suspension is pointless beyond words.

Little bit embarrassed about it. I must admit I didn't know Harper was like that. I do think the blowing a kiss to the pitcher was wrong. Hames shouldnt have said it was deliberate , I do think it was just a "welcome to the majors".

The Nats gm Rizzo didn't do himself any favours either.

Harper is just eager to please his manager , team and fans . Give him time he will settle down . Tell ya what though ,Harper had nothing but praise for Hamel afterwards...so he can't be that uppity!
Regardless the lad is one to watch ,Nats are going to need his enthusiasm with Werth out of the picture.

Finally got round to watching this last night and to be honest Hamels took a worse one in the leg, that was the one that made me wince! Not sure if I thought it was worse because I knew for certain that that one was definitely intentional!

Should never have admitted that he meant it, reminds me of Beckham admitting that he and his team mates got themselves booked so they'd be available for the cup final years ago! Fair enough do it, never admit it! <shakes head>

I hate that every time Bryce Harper sneezes the baseball journalists deem it reportable. He's just another player, hasn't done anything amazing yet except being young and in the majors.

I like Harper, i like how he play the game with youthfull energy. He certainly puts in 100% and its good for the game to have young stars like him.

He is living up to the hype so far.

So was Jason Heyward when he first came up!

So was Jason Heyward when he first came up!

Francoeur V2