Explaining Philly first baseman Bryce Harper's "beef" with Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia
You may have noticed a trend in Wednesday night's matchup between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies:
Bryce Harper staring at Orlando Arcia.
Seriously, he did it. A lot.
You see, it stems back to Monday night's game. You may remember the 8-5-3 double play that ended the game; Bryce Harper was the runner on 1st when the ball was hit and was on the wrong side of 2nd when it was caught, getting doubled off at 1st.
Supposedly, after the game, Braves SS Orlando Arcia was gloating in the clubhouse about Harper's baserunning error, saying "ha-ha, atta-boy Harper" repeatedly in delight.
Word got back to Harper, who took it personally, and Wednesday night's performance was the result.
The only issue is: it's increasingly unlikely that it ever happened.
The person who put this out is Jake Mintz; 1/2 of the Cesepdes Family BBQ podcast, he writes for Fox Sports. Here's what he wrote in the bottom of his gamer after Monday night's victory:
And OH is Harper (and Philly) aware of the comment. The official twitter account for the Phillies used the quote after Harper's first homer:
And the fans booed Orlando Arcia in every single plate appearance in this one. Harper stared him down any time he could, whether it was after a play in the field or either of Harper's two homers.
But like we said, it's unlikely that Arcia even said this.
For starters, he doesn't speak English. Arcia uses a translator for all media appearances, without fail.
But the bigger reason it's unlikely Arcia said that is this:
NO ONE ELSE REPORTED IT.
Mintz's column on FoxSports.com claims that Arcia said it as "reporters circled the room".
So why hasn't anyone corroborated the story? None of the Braves beat have either reported the quote or even admitted that they heard it. None of the national media, in town for the series and theoretically not invested in the team like a member of the Braves beat would be, have acknowledged it either.
Matter of fact, some members of the media have come forth to say that it's extremely unlikely that Arcia said anything. Here's Kelly Crull, sportscaster with Bally Sports that spent all season embedded with the team, on Twitter earlier on Wednesday.
Here’s my take as someone who is around this club daily…Arcia’s locker is sandwiched between Albies/Acuna/Ozuna/Rosario & rarely is he not talking in Spanish. He always uses a translator when being quoted directly. Bryce Harper is also the guy who made sure to tell Acuna to keep playing his game after shade was thrown his way in Philly. I think he’ll know how to interpret this.
But the victors get to write the history books. Harper hit two homers on elevated sliders, Philly hit six in the game. Orlando Arcia didn't do that; Braves pitchers did.
But Arcia's public enemy #1 in Philly right now, and it's not his fault. And he deserves better.
UPDATE: Hold the phones. All of Braves Country may have gotten this wrong.
No one's come right out and acknowledged it's true on Atlanta's side, but some Braves players are speaking on the record as if it's true. Here's Travis d'Arnaud, speaking to the very same Kelly Crull we quoted above:
And reportedly, according to NBC Philly producer Spencer McKercher, Arcia's first reaction was that something came out of the clubhouse, not a denial that it was said in the first place.
We're still waiting for confirmation and/or acknowledgement, but it's looking like Mintz may have been correct.
UPDATE 2: Here's Arcia saying "he (Bryce) wasn't supposed to hear, that's why we were talking in the clubhouse", which is, in essence, an acknowledgement.
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