Major League Baseball suspended Bryce Harper one game for his actions Monday night against the Tigers
On Monday night, Bryce Harper was ejected in the ninth inning because he was arguing with home plate umpire Brian Knight. Two pitches later, Clint Robinson hit a walk-off home run to give the Washington Nationals a 5-4 win. Harper came onto the field after the game to celebrate and then pointed and cursed at Knight.
Today, Major League Baseball handed out their punishment after reviewing the incident. Harper is being suspended one game and fined for his actions Monday night. However, he will appeal the suspension and play tonight, on his bobble head night, against his former teammate, Jordan Zimmermann:
MLB suspends #Nationals’ Bryce Harper for one game and announces an undisclosed fine for his actions Monday night.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 11, 2016
Official reason for suspension, via MLB: "for his actions following his ninth inning ejection, which included returning to the field"
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 11, 2016
When I wrote up my reaction Monday night to Harper’s antics, I wrote that both Harper and Knight were at fault for their actions. Harper was arguing with Knight during the fourth inning over a strike three call and was not thrown out for it, but was later thrown out for yelling in the dugout over a strike three call to Espinosa. Nevertheless, Harper can’t take himself out of the game there.
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Now, while it is not a comparable situation, Red Sox manager John Farrell was only fined on Friday night against the New York Yankees for returning to the field after being thrown out for arguing a strike call against David Ortiz made by umpire Ron Kulpa.
With that being said, Harper is going to play tonight, which is a good thing for the Washington Nationals. In terms of his appeal, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB Network, tweeted about a suspension Ian Kinsler got for returning to the field a few years ago. Kinsler appealed and he ended up winning, but it was again different than Harper’s: