Bryce Harper on Tuesday took Hunter Strickland deep for another splash hit into McCovey Cove during the NLDS, and the young Nationals outfielder went nuts during his celebration. He also appeared to bark at and stare down the Giants after the homer, indicating there might be something personal going on between him and Strickland (or another player).
Harper’s solo home run in the top of the 7th inning tied Game 4 of the NLDS at 2, so Harper was understandably pumped up. But there definitely seemed to be some extra celebrating from him. You can see him yell curse words at the Giants/Strickland:
ght=”385″ class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-243581″ />Yeah, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of that stare. This should not at all be surprising. Two years ago, Harper talked about his style of play and said his mentality is he wants to “run your ass over.” Harper also once blew a kiss at a minor league pitcher after hitting a home run.
So what had Harper fired up? It’s possible that Strickland’s comments after allowing an upper-deck home run to Harper in Game 1 had the Nats slugger ticked. Strickland said he would throw fastballs again to Harper and Asdrubal Cabrera, who both took him deep.
“For sure,” Strickland said via the SF Chronicle. “I would do it again today. As far as Harper and Cabrera, that’s what happened yesterday, but I would throw the same pitch again today and see what happens again.”
