Brandon Phillips claims racism from Pirates’ players
By Matt Shetler
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is one of the more talented middle infielders in the game today, but while he has an unlimited amount of talent, Phillips is a guy who has never been satisfied with simply letting his play do the talking for him.
Sep 10, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips (4) turns a double play during the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE
Phillips is a guy whose mouth is always moving and the Pittsburgh Pirates are all too familiar with that as he’s become one of the teams biggest rivals in recent years. But things may have hit a boiling point between the Bucs and Phillips during the Reds 14-inning win Monday night.
The All-Star second baseman was hit with a pitch by Jared Hughes in the eighth inning of a tie ball game. Instead of simply taking his base and calling things even between the two teams for the Aroldis Chapman-Andrew McCutchen incident in August, Phillips did what Phillips always does and created a scene by picking up the ball and flipping it back at Hughes.
Phillips proceeded to run his mouth for the next few innings to whoever would listen, just like anyone would expect him to do. There’s a line where you don’t respect the game and instead prefer to make the game all about yourself. Phillips is a guy that crosses that line often.
During the game, I had a hard time trying to figure out exactly why Phillips was so upset. He had to expect that himself or another Reds start would get hit eventually.
However, Phillips explained after game in a Tweet that his anger was directed at something totally different: racism from an unnamed Pirates’ player.
#RealTalk... Not really surprised by what I heard come outta another player's mouth tonite but DAMN... Still PISSED bout that $h¡+!! #Racism
— Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP) September 11, 2012
That’s a bit of a troubling accusation to make and Phillips isn’t the most reliable source in the world considering how he likes to run his mouth, but it’s very hard to fathom even a guy like Phillips making something like that up.
It’s even more hard to take that if the accusations are true, that a player wearing a Pirates uniform would stoop to such a level. Phillips didn’t mention which Pirates player allegedly made the racial comment, so who knows what exactly happened out there. Could it have just been frustration from Phillips, who went 0-for-5 in the 14 inning affair, or could the frustration be coming out on the Pirates end?
The next question to ask is if this will have any type of carryover during the next two games at Great American Ballpark?
No matter what happens it doesn’t look good for the Pirates.
An accusation of racism is not a good thing in today’s age in any walk of life, especially on the ball field where things are supposed to be about competition.
It would be nice if Phillips made more of the story known, but we will have to wait until tonight to find out more.