An Atlanta Braves fan took it a bit too far while trying to distract Bryce Harper on Tuesday night, and he was ejected from the ballpark as a result. During the 6th inning of Washington’s NL East-clinching win over the Braves, a fan could be heard raining four-letter words down on Bryce Harper.
“Bryce Harper you f—ing suck you piece of s—!” the fan said with dignity and class.
To Harper’s credit, the Nationals star ignored the fan and was prepared to continue his at-bat. Home plate umpire Tim Welke, on the other hand, had heard enough. As Big League Stew noted, the fan had reportedly been harassing Harper for several innings.
“Hey! Hey! Get rid of that guy!” Welke yelled toward a Turner Field usher. “Get rid of him now!”
The fan was promptly escorted off the premises.
Some fans who heckle players are fortunate enough to later take a selfie with them, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. There are creative and permissible ways to go about trying to distract the opposing team. That guy didn’t use any of them.
The irony of the whole situation is that the Nationals went on to clinch the NL East while the Braves are 5.5 games back in the wildcard race. If Atlanta was in the hunt, there might have been enough noise at Turner field to drown out that fan’s naughty language.
Video via Reddit
