Bad sports, good sports: Nyjer Morgan forgot to ignore the fans
At virtually any point during my childhood, if you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I was okay as a player…nothing special. I got to pitch in little league, but that was mostly because my father was the coach. I never had any illusions that being paid to play was in my future, but it certainly would have been my choice if all it took was wanting to do it. In this desire, I was certainly not alone. If you watch professional athletes, though, it is clear that it is not all one big party. There are clearly aspects of that life that are less than desirable, particularly when it comes to being heckled by fans. It is a rare thing to actually see a player respond to hecklers, though. I assume they have had it drilled into their heads since they first stood out as athletes that they need to block out anything coming from the crowd. Occasionally, someone responds. Last week, Nyjer Morgan of the Washington Nationals was that someone.
The actual incident occurred last Saturday during the Nationals game against the Phillies. Morgan, a center fielder, was being heckled by some fans sitting in the outfield stands. I guess there was one fan in particular who was riding him pretty hard. I have to assume that it became more than Morgan could take, as he reacted badly. After catching a fly ball for the third out of the inning, Morgan turned and threw the ball at the heckling fan. That’s right, he threw the ball at the guy. This would be bad enough, but he actually missed and the ball hit a different fan in the side of the head.
I know that it must have been difficult to ignore fans who were very likely saying things that were way over the line. I have sat out in those stands, and people can be pretty harsh. I was at a different game against the Nationals earlier this season where some fans actually appeared to cause Adam Dunn, who was playing right field, to misplay a ball that was hit to him. Whether or not the fans were the cause of the error, Dunn never once turned around and acknowledged the fans in any way. Morgan would have been much better off following Dunn’s example. Major League Baseball has suspended him for seven games, a penalty which he is currently appealing. I don’t expect his appeal to be successful. I am pretty sure the league has no desire to appear in any way lenient after a player throws a ball at a fan.
It is probably just as well that I did not become a major leaguer. I would certainly have done many things to get myself suspended, I am sure.
Bad sports, continued:
2) Ambiorix Burgos, a former Mets pitcher and owner of a pretty spectacular name, has been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder after poisoning his wife. Burgos has a sordid history, including several violent crimes. My favorite part of this story is the overly understated headline that ESPN used, “Ex-Met reliever in more legal trouble.”
3) I don’t know about you, but I love when a baseball manager loses his mind during an argument with an umpire. Check out the manager of the State College Spikes.
4) It’s stories like this that make writing this column fun. An Oregon State football player, Tyler Thomas, was arrested for trespassing, criminal mischief, and resisting arrest after an incident at a home in Corvalis. The details are the fun part here: when the police arrived, Thomas got down into a three-point stance and charged them. Oh yeah…he was naked at the time.
5) It was an embarrassing week for golfer Jim Furyk. On Wednesday, he overslept and missed his tee time for pro-am event that was scheduled to be played the day before the Barclays tournament in Paramus, NJ. Oops. The PGA disqualified him from the tournament.
Good sports:
1) I feel like I need to include at least one good story. Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer Aroldis Chapman threw a pitch on Friday that was clocked at 105 miles per hour. That’s pretty fast.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday.
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Jim Furyk is not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. If you’re going to rely on your cell phone to wake you up for something as important as this, wouldn’t you make sure it was plugged in first?