NEW YORK — Let’s put it this way: Nobody looks better when he’s getting ejected from a game than Bryce Harper:
Bryce Harper wasn’t having it tonight 😡 pic.twitter.com/DwnzRMtX46
— ESPN (@espn) April 23, 2019
Harper was ejected for the 12th time in his career in the Philadelphia Phillies‘ 5-1 loss to the New York Mets on Monday, but at least it was a display of modern art worthy of a showing at the Guggenheim. Consider the mechanics of this particular ejection:
(1) It came four batters after Harper had been called out on strikes in the top of the fourth inning. Like a carefully crafted movie script, he simply let the tension build until the moment called for some action.
(2) He let Phillies manager Gabe Kapler spring first out of the dugout, creating added tension and confusion as to what exactly was going on.
(3) Notice that Harper, in his fury to charge after umpire Mark Carlson, slipped on the dugout steps. This could have been a disastrous moment for Harper and the Phillies, a freak injury if he had twisted an ankle or knee.
(4) Kapler shoved him out of the way before Harper can get to Carlson. Again, maybe a lucky break for the Phillies given Kapler is maybe the only manager with the appropriate upper-body strength to hold off Harper.
(5) Harper went out with a blaze of glory, continuing to yell and point toward Carlson, his magnificently coiffed hair on full display.
OK, more seriously, it’s not all fun and games when you lose your No. 3 hitter midway through what was a 2-1 game against a key division opponent. Harper admitted as much after the game.
“It just can’t happen. In a game like that, against the Mets, division rival, things like that, it just can’t happen,” he said. “For myself and this team as well. We’re a better team with me in the lineup and I gotta stay in that game. These games matter. They matter now, they matter in September.”
Teammate Jake Arrieta, who picked up the loss in the game, admonished Harper after the game: “We need him in right field. I don’t care how bad the umpire is. He wasn’t great for either side. I’m out there, trying to make pitches, he misses some calls, so what. We need [Bryce] out there.”
Kapler was obviously not happy after the game, although he defended Harper and said Carlson’s ejection wasn’t fair. “There was normal chirping from the dugout that is in every dugout every single night,” he said. “It was no different.”
Nonetheless, considering the ejection came four batters after Harper had struck out, the chirping had obviously tested Carlson’s patience. As Arrieta suggested, ultimately the responsibility sits with the player to remain in the game. In the video, you can see Harper still on the top step of the dugout. He could have said his peace as he walked away from the batter’s box and then stewed on the bench.
Of course, Harper isn’t new to ejections. Among active players, only Matt Kemp has more with 14 — and Kemp reached the majors six years before Harper. Yunel Escobar is third on the active list with nine and I’m not sure he’s even still active considering he last appeared in the big leagues in 2017.
Is Harper too much of a hothead? Does he have a reputation with the umpires, fair or not? Hard to say. His 12 ejections have come from 12 different umpires:
Harper didn’t have a ready explanation for this ejection. “I’m usually zero-to-a-hundred anyways, so I feel like all my ejections it’s usually pretty calm and then ‘bam,’ once it happens, try to let it out, I guess.”
But Harper isn’t a young kid anymore. He’s in his eighth season in the majors. He knows questionable calls are part of the game — and the two in the fourth inning weren’t even that questionable. As one of the expected leaders of the team, Harper can’t allow himself to cross the line or give an umpire the excuse to send him to the showers early.
He knows this. “I have to stay in that game for the organization, the fans. I have to do better,” he said.
The Phillies went down quietly after the ejection as well, with Mets pitchers retiring the final 16 batters in a row as the Phillies dropped their fourth game in five. Harper has to do better on Tuesday, but so do the rest of his teammates.