Phillies' Bryce Harper Responds to Vulgar Chant From National Fans with Finger Gesture —But Says He Didn't Flip Them Off
Credit: AP Photo/Nick Wass
NEED TO KNOW
- Bryce Harper had a clear, one-fingered response to Nationals fans who started a vulgar chant against him this week
- Nationals fans started a chant of “F— Bryce Harper,” and the Phillies first baseman flicked his ring finger towards the group after hitting a home run on June 25
- Harper played for the Nationals from 2012 to 2018 before leaving for Philadelphia
Bryce Harper had a clear, one-fingered response to Nationals fans who started a vulgar chant against him this week — but not the finger you might think.
When the Phillies took on the Nationals in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, June 25, the first baseman, 33, faced loud chants featuring some choice words from some of the home team’s fans: “F— Bryce Harper.”
After hitting his 18th home run of the season during the game’s ninth inning, Harper finally responded to a group of fans yelling the chant in right field by flicking a finger up in their direction. However, he later clarified that it was not his middle finger.
“Ring finger, though,” Harper told reporters after the Phillies’ 10-5 win. “Make sure that’s out there.”
Credit: Jamie Sabau/Getty
“We heard it the other night,” he added of the same chant from a group of Nationals fans. “I mean, they were doing the same thing with Trea [Turner], which is crazy because they should probably know their history a little bit with him winning a World Series here.”
“But, yeah, it’s part of it. I love coming here and playing here. I’m very familiar with the ballpark and I love hitting here,” Harper said.
Harper played for the Nationals from 2012 to 2018 — winning the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year prize and the 2015 NL Most Valuable Player Award, as well as making the All-Star Game six times with the team — before leaving for Philadelphia in 2019, marking his eighth season with the team this year.
“Wherever I go I get booed,” he told press on Thursday. “They say my name, or boo, or anything else, I love it. It’s all part of it. It’s weird coming from a fan base, obviously, that I sweated for for seven years, but there’s a lot of people around here that enjoy me, so it’s all part of it and it’s all fun.”
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“He’s not afraid of the stage, that’s one thing for sure,” interim manager Don Mattingly told MLB.com of Harper following his home run on Thursday. “He’s been in it his whole life. I don’t think the stage bothers him. I think it probably motivates him when people get on him. It’s probably something that he feeds off of a little bit.”
Harper has yet to win a World Series, and the Nationals went on to win one the season he departed the team for Philadelphia. The Phillies came close to earning a ring again in 2022, when the Phillies lost the World Series to the Astros in six games.
“I feel like everyone heard, you know, what those group of dudes were saying up there,” Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh added to the outlet of his teammate. “I feel like Harp gets a lot of heat just for being who he is and how good he is. I feel like it just comes with being one of the best players to ever play.”
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