On the final day of April, in his first season as a Phillie, it happened: Bryce Harper received some boos.
To be fair, Harper went 0-4 on Tuesday night and the Phillies lost 3-1 to the Detroit Tigers, one of the American League's worst offensive teams.
"Yeah, I mean, I'd do the same thing," Harper said of the boos after the game. "It's not fun to lose, not fun to watch when you're playing that way.
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Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie debated whether booing Harper, this early, was acceptable on Wednesday's 94WIP Midday Show.
"The Bryce Harper booing, I am really disappointed and annoyed that whatever percentage of fans it was—and it wasn't the whole stadium," DeCamara said. "But it wasn't just a thousand people, it wasn't just three thousand people. Whatever percentage of people last night at Citizens Bank Park—and Bryce Harper played a bad game, he struck out a couple of times, he dropped a ball in right field, his batting average has dipped I understand that. But for people to boo Bryce Harper on April 30th, the end of his first month of a 13-year tenure in Philadelphia as the centerpiece of the Phillies organization. Jon, I was really surprised actually—because I thought he'd have a long grace period—and disappointed that the boos came out last night."
Ritchie defended the fans.
"You are soft," Ritchie debated. "You're being weak. You are weak. He deserved it! What the heck, you just dropped a ball! What happened that inning? Sure, let's encourage mistakes with our players, that's a good idea."
Harper is 3 for his last 20 (.150) with just one home run and seven strikeouts.
Harper is now hitting .240/.388/.490 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 29 games this season. The Phillies are 16-13, atop the NL East by 1.0 game over the Mets.
