MIAMI -- Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen lashed out at Bryce Harper following today's game, calling the Nationals rookie "unprofessional" apparently for using too much pine tar on his bat.
"I could have said a lot of [stuff] about this kid," Guillen said following his team's 4-0 loss to the Nationals. "I've been praising this kid like every day. The last three times they asked me about him, the only thing I said was he's a great player. What he did [today] was unprofessional."What did Harper do to upset Guillen? He apparently stepped to the plate in the top of the first inning with pine tar too far up the barrel of his bat. Guillen alerted the umpiring crew, which informed the Nationals, who had Harper change to another bat for his second at-bat.
But when Harper came up to hit in the top of the third, he pointed his bat toward the Miami dugout. Guillen started yelling from his perch, first at Harper and then at Nationals manager Davey Johnson.
"I was just telling him how cute he was," Guillen said, refusing to divulge details. "Something happened there the inning before, and I didn't like it and I was talking to the umpire about it."
The Nationals didn't understand what Guillen was so upset about.
"Ozzie had complained that the pine tar was too high up on Harper's bat, so we changed it," Johnson said. "Then he was still chirping about it. It got on the umpire's nerves. It got on my nerves. He was trying to intimidate my player, I guess. That's not going to bother our player. He does what he has to do."
Harper, who went 0-for-4 during the victory, stayed above the fray after the game.
"He battles for his team, and that's the type of manager Ozzie is," the 19-year-old All-Star said. "He's a great manager to play for. He's going to battle for you, no matter what. That's a manager you want to play for."
Major League Baseball Rule 1.10(c) restricts players from putting pine tar on their bats more than 18 inches from the handle, an infraction most notably associated with Hall of Famer George Brett (who happens to be one of Harper's favorite players).
"It's such a fine line," Johnson said. "They put the pine tar, it's only supposed to be at the top of the label. Some guys, it might be over half an inch or something. There's still a foot of the barrel to hit it with. If you hit it on the pine tar, it's going to shatter everything. They replace the ball all the time, anyways. What's the big deal?"
Johnson, of course, made enemies with Rays manager Joe Maddon last month when he got Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta ejected for having too much pine tar in his glove.
What residual effect might there be from this incident? Nobody was saying, but Guillen suggested he would be having a chat with Johnson at some point.
"I'm not going to tell you guys what he did, because I'm not going to be talking about it on ESPN, Baseball Tonight, what happened again," the Miami manager said. "I'll just leave it like that. I'll talk to his manager in a little while."
39 comments:
I guess we'll find out while watching show time.
Harp, as usual, Mr. Cool, and Ozie, as usual, doing his best Capt. Queeg imitation. That must have been good in the clubhouse for more laughs than Harp's lost fly ball during the ASG. Funnier, too.
Hey, Ozzie. Saw this and thought of you. :-)
1a, you're a riot. That was funny!
That was perfect. I think the rest of baseball had been watching Bryce and has been impressed with him. Harassing the youngest player out there is just a class-less move. Once you alert the ump, they handle it. Let it go. Might want to spend a little more time on scouting reports so you know who not to pitch to.
Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, no soup for you!!
Say hello, ladies and gents, to Ozzie 2.0-- reality TV star.
I know the umps have to listen if Ozzie asks them to check for pine tar? But what do you think their tolerance level is for him at this point? Is he hurting his team because he has no credibility? I wonder what they say about him off the field.
Life is tough when your ten games back with a store bought team and a mega million dollar new stadium, isnt it, Ozzie.
When you yelled at Harper and said 'FU, Kid" Harper should have flipped you off at the minimum, and whipped your saggy ass at the most.
Half the major league players have pine tar above the 18 inch line -- why pick on Harper?
You need attention that bad, Ozzie? Not getting enough luv in Miami?
Haha, sounds like Bryce showed Ozzie the bat in a "is this ok?" Type of way, and Ozzie didn't like being out played by a 19 yr old, so he went on a diva rant. I hope Bryce doesn't get pegged tomorrow......
More important is how Storen got smoked in his AA rehab start. Good thing they aren't rushing him back. He may need a few more weeks.
ozzie -
do fidel's cops put pine tar on their billy clubs?
Bryce should send a package of toothpicks over to Fiedel's favorite baseball manager
Hey Kirbs: "Ozzie's Diva Rant" hahaha that is truly funny.
And if harper gets thrown at tomorrow ... if he gets thrown at, there is going to be a major bench clearning brawl -- or at least there should be.
And if Ozzie "talks to the manager," Davey ought to let him know in clear terms that if they retaliate at Harper, then repercussions will result.
Ozzie is an idiot.
Ozzie = head case
nothing to retaliate for. if they pull any crap on bryce, he should stay calm, get on base, steal home, and blow ozzie a kiss.
That's a dumb protest, bro.
Clown manager, bro.
It's funny that Guillen calls a 19 year old kid "unprofessional" when he rants and rages like a 15 year old and gets suspended from ball games! Guillen, the slug, is no one to call anybody unprofessional. God, he is just a complete idiot.
After reading The Kid's comments afterwards you just have to wonder, is this kid for real? Can he be this "too good true to be real?" I know one thing, and that is, if they start something via a HBP on Bryce in retaliation, then this team will have a united front having his back. And to MLB I say, this kid is one of the best things to happen to the game in a long time. Protect your interests.
Just another Joe Seamhead Editorial
GYFNG!!!
Whatever.
One more game left whoever wins, wins the series. That's the important thing right now. And probably what Ozzie is thinking about. Rattling Nats players to play out of their games.
EJax takes the stage and they need him to go deep into this ballgame (bullpen has been used quite a bit for the first three) but he hasn't pitched in quite some time thanks to the ASB and the realignment of the rotation order. And Gorzo is his backup.
I ask again, why does MASN employ an on-field reporter then choose to ignore an incident like this?
We shouldn't have to rely on national media and twitter to report this...
Peric
Since we have won two of three, how do you figure tomorrows game wins the series?
A homer, a triple, a walk; four runs to lose the lead in the seventh to AA hitting? Sounds a lot worse than Henry Rodriguez.
Storen needs more rehab appearances apparently.
peric... that is bad news on Storen
Peric
Since we have won two of three, how do you figure tomorrows game wins the series?
For the Marlins a tie is as good a as a series win at this point given their current confidence level ... for the Nats it is not. They need to win series against NL East adversaries. The Nats do not win the series unless they win tomorrow.
typos....
I admit, I like Ozzie, but he is in meltdown mold now and sounds like an ass
Ozzie is gonna be the catalyst that burns this team to the ground...
Re: Storen: He was awful in spring training last year, then Lights Out once it counted. So, I'm not concerned.
Re: Ozzie: I think Bryce is very smart, and figured out what button to push to get Ozzie into Diva Mode. Hah!
SO if they drill Harper, do you get Hanley, or just go straight at Zambrano (assuming he hasn't been tossed for something else already)?
Oh my, Ozzie got worked up by a 19 year-old rookie? Why Ozzie? Because you made him change his bat for having excess pine tar, and then his next at bat he politely shows you that it's clean? Hah!
Just like you don't pitch around the catcher to get to Strasburg, you just don't mess with Bryce. He will win. Davey will laugh at Ozzie if they actually do talk, which I doubt. MLB ought to suspend Ozzie (again) for his rant tonite.
4-0 Ozzie, enjoy your evening.
If Ozzie feels a competitor is breaking the rules then he has every right to point out to the umps the infraction. This is the exact thing Davey did in the not so distant past, but the reaction on these fan sites was far different. I am a big Nats fan, but I find Ozzie's brashness to be refreshing to the game. Much ado about nothing.
Ozzie is trying to "whig" Harper out. He knows Harper can key this offense and its not a matter of IF Harper's bat wakes up as it with many others with the Nats its a case of WHEN ... and the WHEN is any at bat now ...
To paraphrase a supermarionette show that once graced television:
When it comes to Harper anything can happen in the next half a season. So be here or be square to see it when it does.
Ozzie keeps it real. He shoots from the hip and this can naturally backfire, but you have to respect that. Harper is the exact opposite, every public action he takes is to project the "image" that his people want him to portray. I like both of these guys, but I wish each one had a little bit more of the other in them.
From a piece on the team site, quote from Logan Morrison. Um, *Harper* got a little emotional? No, he wasn't rattled at all, imo. It was Guillen who got "a little emotional" and cussed out a 19-year-old kid. Of course, Ozzie has a right to point it out, and the kid changed the bat. The reaction (by Davey, the ump, and, yes, fans) was occasioned by Ozzie's attempt to escalate things after that.
"Harper maybe got a little emotional or whatever. It's part of the game. He plays hard, wears his emotions on his sleeve. I'd like to have him on my team, he's a good player. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You want guys on your team who have a chip on their shoulder."
Ozzie was creating an incident to make his Showtime TV show more interesting. If Ozzie put the effort into managing that he put into calilng attention to himself, he'd be Joe McCarthy. He should be more focused on the actions of his own players, who look bored and disinterested than a half inch of pine tar on Harper's bat.
On the Ian Desmond play Saturday night that caused a trip out to second base so Ozzie could put on a show for the fans, Ozzie was clearly mugging for the TV show.
He admitted that the Fish had no beef but because the fans were booing, he saw the opportunity and ran out to the umpire.
Once out there, he told the ump that "I really don't have a complaint but since the fans are booing, I figured I'd come out and say hi."
Yep....He's all about Ozzie.
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