If Bryce Harper could do anything differently about his ejection in the eighth inning from Wednesday’s 8-5 win against the Milwaukee Brewers, the 24-year-old would have changed his pre-game music playlist.
Harper told reporters he got too “fired up” listening to Chance the Rapper and Logic before the game.
“I called my brother and said like, ’Man, I’m so fired up to play today,’ ” said Harper, who was donning a Chance the Rapper “3” hat. “I guess it got me a little too fired up. I guess I need to mix in some Temptations and some of those jazz bands to calm me down a little bit.”
Harper’s ejection was the result of arguing about a strike call with home plate umpire Chris Segal. Harper initially yelled out after a 1-0 pitch was called a strike, which Harper felt was low in the zone.
Harper proceeded to whiff on the strikeout pitch, kicked the dirt and screamed. Segal then tossed Harper.
“I didn’t really yell at him,” Harper said. “I just yelled because I was mad that I struck out, and he tossed me. I don’t know why he tossed me. I don’t know if he tossed me because I kicked the dirt, or he thought I was yelling at him, but at that point I was not trying to yell at him. I was just pretty fired up about striking out in a big situation like that.”
The Nationals and the Brewers were tied 2-2 at the time, and it gave the Nationals their second out in the eighth, so Harper’s ejection could have been costly. Washington also have a series of outfield injuries, so losing another right fielder for the game was not ideal.
But instead, the Nationals rallied and had a 6-run inning off a string of big-time hits.
“Everybody said, ’Way to fire us up,’ so I guess I was able to do that,” Harper said.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker defended Harper’s actions.
“I’d rather have a guy who plays with emotions than a guy who plays with no emotions. I’ll take that guy every day,” Baker said. “You don’t have to pump him up to get him psyched to play. The first pitch on him in a big situation was questionable, and that’s what he objected to, and then he struck out. That just sends his emotions to the top and over the top.”
Specifically, Harper said he was fired up from listening to Logic’s “5AM.”
No word on which Chance the Rapper song did the trick as well.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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