Written by One of the concepts most of us learn early on in life is the one about turning the other cheek. Essentially, according to the concept, if you are wronged by someone, you should not immediately retaliate against the person who wronged you as that person will eventually get their “just desserts.” Unfortunately, this can be tough to grasp for many, let alone put into practice, especially in sports. However, there are still those who have the intelligence to be able to detach from a situation, see the bigger picture, and understand that the person who may have wronged them in some way was not intentional in their actions.
Such is the case with Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper. Harper was the unfortunate recipient of a 97 mile per hour fastball from Saint Louis Cardinal pitcher Genesis Cabrera to the face on Wednesday, April 28th. In the incredibly scary footage of the event, the ball is seen to come high and incredibly inside on Harper. Slow-motion replays of the event clearly show that the ball made the first contact with Harper around his left cheek due to the left-handed hitting Harper trying to get away from the pitch. (For those who may not be quite as familiar with baseball, a left-handed batter will have their body positioned so that the right side of their body facing towards the pitcher’s mound, with the left side generally away from the direction the baseball will be coming from. They’re called left-handed hitters because of the way they hold the bat, with their left hand in the top position on the bat.) Overall, Harper sustained a minor scratch on the left side of his nose and some possible bruising along his left cheekbone, but walked off the field under his own power. In an Instagram post after the game, which the Phillies won 5-3, Harper came out and said, “Everything feels good. Everything came back good. CT, all that kind of stuff. Face is still there, so we’re all good.”
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Cabrera, as the very next batter he faced, Didi Gregorious, was hit by Cabrera’s second pitch of his outing, a 95 mile per hour fastball, in the ribs. So with two consecutive pitches, Cabrera hit two batters with what could only be accounted to horrible pitch control. Cabrera faced one more batter, Phillies Andrew McCutchen, who singled off him before he left the game.
Both teams were warned by the umpires after the Gregorious’s hit-by-pitch, which was the catalyst for Phillies manager Joe Giraridi to storm out of his team’s dugout and light into the umpires. Giraridi was summarily ejected from the game for his outburst, which most fans, I’m sure, would argue was justified. The rest of the game went on without further incident from either team.
What does all of this have to do with turning the proverbial other cheek? After the game, Harper’s response on Instagram went a long way to ease some of the tensions that may have been building in either dugout, especially since both teams played again the following night. Harper, for his part, also sent a note to Cabrera Thursday letting him know that the pitch that hit him was unintentional. While it appears that there may have been individual retaliation in Thursday’s game from Phillies pitcher Hector Neris, who hit Cardinals batter Nolen Arenado, it was an isolated incident and not anything that had been sanctioned by Giraridi or any of the other Phillies coaches, and no one warnings were issued to either team by the umpires. So a situation that could have gotten completely out of hand cooled down rather quickly between the two teams after the graciousness of Bryce Harper.
It could have quite easily turned into a bench-clearing brawl on Wednesday after Gregorious was hit, but with both teams remaining relatively calm, this did not happen. Harper showed enormous emotional maturity with his response to Cabrera, and his extremely calm demeanor immediately following the situation. These are lessons that could be used in any clubhouse, dugout, locker room, or on any playing field. Having the poise to acknowledge an accident, and essentially turn the other cheek, highlights a level of professionalism that coaches, players, and fans can look up to. It speaks volumes about the character of Bryce Harper and the culture he tries to instill in the teams he plays for.
While it is unfortunate that mistakes like this can happen, even ones that could injure a player much more than the injuries Harper sustained, these are, for the most part, accidents. We all do what we can to mitigate accidents and risks, but there are times when even the most stringent efforts cannot remove all risk, so we have to accept a level of risk associated with our actions. How we respond to the accident afterward can be the key factor though. It would have been very easy to picture Harper storming the pitcher’s mound after being hit, however, the shock factor of being hit in the face as he was may have helped prevent that, but his calm demeanor while walking off the field, combined with his post-game response and note the following day spoke louder than an all-out brawl. If other players, of any age, and fans, were to take a note out of Harper’s “playbook,” we might be able to move one step closer to a less violent culture. Our response to those who wrong us, whether by physical injury or otherwise, makes a strong statement of our personal character, ethics, and values. Much like the parable of the tortoise and the hare, calm, cool, and collected, will win the day over hot-headed, quick to anger, and even faster to fight.