An outfielder may have been out of line after losing his cool on a fan who he thought was heckling him during a Thursday night game.
The Cincinnati Reds’ outfielder Jake Fraley was caught on camera ripping a fan Thursday after the team lost 4-0 to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The video shows the pissed off outfielder telling the fan to stop heckling, with the fan insistent it wasn’t him.
“You’ve got the wrong guy,” the fan insisted. “It wasn’t me.”
Another baseball fan could be heard saying “calm down” as the two sparred.
I could never yell at a Phillies fan for being an asshole. They genuinely can’t help it. It’s in their DNA from when they’re born, and it’s almost a badge of honor to get chirped by them. pic.twitter.com/kwfP3ooWxM
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) August 26, 2022
Others in the stand also corroborated the fans’ claim, saying “wrong guy!” and motioning toward a different person higher up in the stands, the New York Post reported.
“Well, tell him to shut the fuck up!” Fraley said. (RELATED: Teammates Confront San Diego Padres’ Jurickson Profar After Hesitation In Left Field)
Some members of the crowd were heard booing as Fraley angrily walked off.
One fan Chris Devine posted a video to Twitter saying fans had tossed “the most basic insults” at Fraley before he flew into a fit of rage.
Explaining the incident @BarstoolPhilly #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/gFu2oMXAFW
— Chris Devine (@cdevine95) August 26, 2022
“I’ve heard worse stuff thrown at people taking too long at the Wawa Kiosk,” Devine said. “It was weak stuff on Jake Fraley’s part … 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.”
Devine said Fraley had security remove the individuals.