2012 Memories: Ozzie Guillen vs Bryce Harper

Ozzie Guillen vs Bryce Harper

On Sunday, July 15th 2012, the Washington Nationals faced off against the Miami Marlins in an afternoon game at Marlins Park.  The game exploded into a national story when Ozzie Guillen began screaming at Bryce Harper while the rookie was up at the plate to lead off the 4th inning.

Earlier in the game, during Bryce Harper's at bat in the first inning, Ozzie Guillen took exception to the amount of pine tar that was on Bryce's bat.  Instead of taking it up with the umpire during the at bat, Ozzie waited for the inning to end before letting the umpire know his feelings about the pine tar.

The Nationals were told about the complaint and they sent Bryce Harper up to the plate in the 4th inning with a different bat.  That is when things got interesting.

Harper came up to the batters box, and for a brief moment it appeared he was pointing his bat towards Ozzie Guillen in a way as if to say "check out my bat, you happy?".

And that is when Ozzie went crazy...

Guillen began screaming at the Nationals dugout and at Bryce Harper, showing the Nats the bat point that he believed Harper had done to him out of disrespect.

Ozzie was yelling so much that the umpire had to go over to the dugout and speak with the irate manager.  Guillen didn't slow down and screamed obscenities over the ump in the direction of Bryce Harper as you can see in the following GIF.  (Lip reading may or may not be official)

Will The Marlins Throw At Bryce Harper Tonight?

The biggest news out of the Nationals 4-0 victory over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon was an incident between Nats 19-year old rookie Bryce Harper and Miami's 48 year old manager Ozzie Guillen.  Guillen took exception to Bryce Harper pointing his bat at him, and went on a curse filled tirade where he screamed "F You Kid!" to the chosen one.

Bryce did point the bat a little as if to tell the opposing manager to "look at my bat, anything wrong with it?" After the game, Guillen called the move "unprofessional" and didn't have anything more to say about the situation.

Davey Johnson thought that Ozzie was trying to intimidate his young outfielder and analysts threw around the baseball term "gamesmanship".

If it is a game, then the next move may come from Ozzie Guillen.  Ozzie took exception to Harper's gesture and if baseball history tells us anything it is that it is now Ozzie's turn to fire back at Bryce.

So when Bryce Harper comes to the plate in the first inning to face the Marlins fiery pitcher Carlos Zambrano, will a fastball be heading his way?

If that does happen, then the Nationals will have a decision to make.  Will they have Edwin Jackson retaliate and throw at Zambrano, get ejected, and face a possible suspension where he will miss a start.  Or will they remain calm and let it slide, possibly saving it for their next meeting in August?

Retaliation would be part of the baseball mindset, where you don't let the other team "mess with you".  However when you are a first place team like the Nats, remaining calm and collected could be the smart move.


So tune in tonight for the game and find out what happens.  There could be a huge show...or there may just be a regular old baseball game.

Ozzie Guillen To Bryce Harper: Say Hello To My Little Friend

Hey Mang! Some more fallout from the Ozzie Guillen vs Bryce Harper fiasco from Miami.

THE WORLD IS YOURS OZZIE!

Even Scarface didn't like Castro...

Ozzie Guillen Calls Bryce Harper "Unprofessional"

Ozzie Guillen, the manager who was suspended earlier this year for saying "I love Fidel Castro", has declared that a 19-year old rookie is the "unprofessional" one.

Ozzie Quote via Mark Zuckerman: "What he did [today] was unprofessional."

Guillen was distraught over the location of pine-tar on Bryce Harper's bat and some bat pointing in the Nationals vs Marlins game on Sunday afternoon.  The fiery manager complained to the umpire on multiple occasions, hollered at Bryce and Davey from the dugout, and possibly even screamed "F**k you kid" to the young man who is 29 years younger than him.

Ozzie says "I was just telling him how cute he was" - Via Mark Zuckerman

Reporters talked with him after the game but the only thing he would say about the incident is that Harper is "unprofessional".  Bryce's response?  Talking about what a great manager Guillen is.  Very Unprofessional.

Davy Johnson was also asked about the incident by Nationals reporters and he said the following quotes during his press conference:

• "He was still chirpin' about it"
• "It got on the umpire's nerves"
• "It got on my nerves"
• "He was trying to intimidate our player"

The Best Tweet about the 48 year old "professional" manager remarking on the 19 year old:

Stay Classy Ozzie Guillen!

Do Or Do Not, There Is No Try: Nats Do!

Nationals 4, Marlins 0

It was Star Wars day at Marlins Park but the Washington Nationals and Jedi-Master Stephen Strasburg refused to succomb to the Darkside of the Miami Marlins, blowing up the Miami Deathstar and shutting out the fish in a 4-0 game.

Strasburg was as wise as Yoda, he was.  Steve-37-PO gave up only 6 hits while striking out 7 through 6 innings in the shutout victory, pitching out of several jams on the day.  Aside from being an amazing pitcher, Strasburg contributed at the plate again drawing a walk and hitting an RBI single in the 5th inning.  The star pitcher is now batting .385 on the year in 26 at bats.

With Ian Desmond captured by Darth Maul, Steve Obi-Lom-bardozzi led the way with 2 hits and an RBI to continue his 8 game hit streak.  Beastbacca even got in on the action with 2 hits and an RBI of his own.

Bryce Harper went 0-4 on the day, but was once again a part of the game-story.  In the 4th inning, Harper came up to bat and pointed his bat in a way which Ozzie Guillen (Darth Vader) took exception to.  Guillen screamed across the field and past the umpire at Harper and Davey Johnson at one point yelling "F**k You Kid!" to the rookie (possibly).  You can watch the video for yourself and decide.


Tyler Clippard came in with a 4-0 lead in the 9th, gave up a single then threw 8 straight balls to start the inning with a bases loaded jam.  Clip escaped unharmed and the Nats picked up the W.


More on Ozzie-Gate will be discussed in the days and hours following.  The Nationals finish up the series tomorrow night in Miami looking for the series win.

Ozzie Guillen To Bryce Harper: "F**K You Kid!"?

Nobody is exactly sure what happened at this point, but in the top of the 4th inning during Sunday afternoon's game against the Nats, the Marlins Jose Guillen went crazy and started yelling at Davey Johson and Bryce Harper.

The exchange happened during a Bryce Harper at-bat, having something to do with Harper's pinetar or something.  Harper was making some comments of his own and at one point Ozzie was pointing a bat at Harper/Johnson.  We'll find out the details later, but until then, let's play detective.

Guillen went and talked to the ump during the inning a few times as well as between innings.  See if you can read his lips in this exchange while Harper was up to bat with Bryce or whoever he is looking at:

Was it "F**k you kid?"  It was def F something




Ozzie Guillen's explanation via Mark Zuckerman "I was just telling him how cute he was"

Update: Nats Enquirer has some additional screengrabs