Washington Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon will miss the rest of the season after his dugout fight with teammate Bryce Harper four games because of a team suspension for that episode and three games because he dropped his appeal of a Major League Baseball ban for throwing at an opponent’s head last week.
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Fan Jimmy Johnson from McLean, Va., holds a sign directed at Nationals relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon before Monday’s game against the Reds. According to ESPN.com, Papelbon confronted Harper after the outfielder did not hustle out a pop fly. That’s the way [John Smoltz] went about it. All the great closers I played with, they’re not gonna get down there in the first inning. Many picked the Nationals to make the World Series this year but the team is 79-76 with seven games left.
The altercation was broken up by teammates but went seemingly unnoticed by National’s manager Matt Williams. “That’s all I’m going to say on the matter”.
“If you’re in a bar or if you’re in the dugout or if you’re anywhere”, Harper said Monday, a day after his scrap with Papelbon, “if someone grabs your neck, your first reaction is to do what I did, I guess”.
That, of course, occurred against the larger backdrop of the Nats’ being the most disappointing team in baseball in a few time.
The scuffle happened in the eighth inning of the Nationals’ 12-5 loss against the Phillies at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Mariners team President Kevin Mather said on the day Zduriencik was sacked that McClendon was under contract through 2016, but that the decision on a field manager would be up to the new GM. Williams allowed Papelbon to pitch after the altercation, claiming he didn’t know how bad the fight was.
The pair had to be separated and, shockingly, Papelbon pitched the ninth inning before Washington announced today that it would suspend him.
“I really don’t care… it’s like brothers fighting”, said Bryce Harper.
On Monday, Williams spoke with the media where he said that he didn’t have a full grasp of what had transpired in the dugout until he watched a video of it following the game. None of the players or coaches told Williams about the incident and how serious it was. “We ended our meeting amicably and I think this is an isolated incident”.
“It should have been handled inside the clubhouse or down in the tunnel”, R.A. Dickey said.
The team has a number of key free agents like Jordan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond hitting the market and Williams may not return next season.
Attitude has always been an issue with Papelbon as well. “That he was involved in it and you can see by how we weighted the disciplinary actions, who we felt was more at fault than the other”.
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As for Harper, he said he didn’t expect to come to the ballpark and get into a fight with a teammate.
