Bryce Harper sent a young fan home with a souvenir he wasn’t expecting after he gave umpire Angel Hernandez a tongue-lashing he won’t soon forget.
Hernandez, one of the most criticized umpires in Major League Baseball, made a questionable strike-three call on Harper’s check swing during Thursday’s game between the Phillies and Pirates at Citizens Bank Park.
Both the catcher, Jason Delay, and the home plate umpire, James Hoye, appealed to Hernandez, who was manning third, to make the call.
That’s when Hernandez ruled that Harper had gone around with his swing and had struck out, though it did not appear Harper had gone around.
The call instantly infuriated Harper, who charged up the third baseline to scream at the ump.
Harper was only a third of the way there when Hernandez threw him out of the game.
Harper continued to angrily speed toward third and argue the call before finally reaching Hernandez and getting in his face.
Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan stepped in to try to keep Harper in line, and manager Rob Thomson was able to get Harper to head back to the dugout.
A visibly frustrated Harper walked back to the dugout, and before walking down the steps and heading back to the clubhouse, the Phillies star chucked his helmet into the stands.
“It just seems like every single time he is on the base or behind the plate, there’s always an issue. It’s almost 100 percent of the time,” analyst Ruben Amaro Jr. said on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast.
A young fan caught the helmet that Harper threw into the crowd and was seen wearing it with a big smile on his face later during the game.
Major league umpires have faced increased scrutiny this season over their calls, but Hernandez has a long history of being called out by players and managers.
Last month, a federal appeals court refused to reinstate a racial discrimination case that Hernandez had filed against MLB.
He originally filed the suit in 2017, alleging that he was being discriminated against since he had not been assigned to call a World Series since 2005.
In 2021, a district court granted MLB a summary judgment, and the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld that decision in August.