A Phillies fan was caught in 4K getting into it with Reds outfielder Jake Fraley during Thursday night's game at Citizen's Bank Park.
While it's still hard to make out exactly what the fan had said to Fraley to upset him to such a degree, what's not a mystery is what the three-year slugger said in response.
In a video of the incident, recorded by Chris Devine, fans were shouting what Devine calls in a later post "the most basic jeers and insults," calling the outfielder a "tough guy" among other things which are hard to hear in the clip. Whatever was said upset Fraley to the point we told the fan to "Shut the f--k up."
According to Devine, the fan, along with his two buddies were kicked out of the ballpark.
“It was weak stuff on Jake Fraley’s part,” Devine continued. “The guys that got thrown out tonight, they didn’t do anything wrong. They were throwing the lightest insults I’ve ever heard in my life and Jake Fraley just took it way too seriously.”
A Phillies fan was caught in 4K getting into it with Reds outfielder Jake Fraley during Thursday night's game at Citizen's Bank Park.
While it's still hard to make out exactly what the fan had said to Fraley to upset him to such a degree, what's not a mystery is what the three-year slugger said in response.
In a video of the incident, recorded by Chris Devine, fans were shouting what Devine calls in a later post "the most basic jeers and insults," calling the outfielder a "tough guy" among other things which are hard to hear in the clip. Whatever was said upset Fraley to the point we told the fan to "Shut the f--k up."
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The fan who was interacting with Fraley responded, “it wasn’t me,” and “you’ve got the wrong guy,” then immidatley clapped as Fraley walked toward the dugout.
According to Devine, the fan, along with his two buddies were kicked out of the ballpark.
“It was weak stuff on Jake Fraley’s part,” Devine continued. “The guys that got thrown out tonight, they didn’t do anything wrong. They were throwing the lightest insults I’ve ever heard in my life and Jake Fraley just took it way too seriously.”
Fraley claims otherwise.
In an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Fraley says he expects the usual taunts made by fans at opposing stadiums but after hearing a fan bring up his kids, that was the final straw.
“You can say everything you want about me,” Fraley told The Enquirer. “I don’t really care. I’ve heard it all, all the way from college up to the big leagues now. But as soon as you start talking about my kids, you’ve crossed a line. There is a respect line that unfortunately I guess those guys didn’t understand. Right, wrong or indifferent, it was what I decided to do in order to express the emotions I felt were needed in that moment."
Instead of hating on the eight-second clip that has gone viral on social media, Fraley is glad it's gained attention to show fans that athletes are people too and deserve some level of respect.
“I know it’s going viral and I hope it does. I hope fans can understand that us as professional athletes we’re people. We’re playing a game that is extremely hard. And if you cross a line talking about somebody’s family, especially somebody’s kids, just because you were sitting in the stands doesn’t mean you can do that. I felt like I needed to say something and that was the decision I made. I stand by it."
Although the Reds are near the bottom of the NL Central, Fraley has been playing great since the All-Star break, ranking fifth in the majors with a 1.089 OPS.
Follow Jasper Jones on Twitter: @jonesj2342
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