Nats Nyjer Morgan Does His Best Albert Belle Impersonation

Unfortunately Nyjer didn’t channel Belle’s hitting prowess, but rather his penchant for blowing his top and hurling balls at heckling fans…this one time anyway.

Totally under the radar came the announcement that Morgan, center fielder for the Washington Strasburgs Nationals, was suspended by MLB for seven games after an incident Saturday night in Philadelphia.

A league official states that Morgan, after an “ongoing dialogue” (aka sh-t talking) with a Phillies fan, threw a ball into the stands at said fan, a la Albert “Joey” Belle.  Too bad his aim wasn’t as good as Belle’s…Morgan ended up hitting a completely different fan.

As per usual, Morgan appealed his suspension, which was to take effect today, allowing him to remain in the Nationals lineup for tonight’s game against the Cubs.

So what really happened?  Did Morgan lose his cool and set out to intentionally hurt a Phillies fan the same way Belle did, or was it a friendly bit of jawing between hometown fan and opposing player that ended with a harder than normal toss of a ball as a sign of respect that ended up getting awry?  I’m leaning more towards the former, considering that the poor fan who was hit unintentionally must have had some serious damage done to their grill to warrant a seven game suspension.

However, I’m going to reserve judgement until Nyjer Morgan tells his side of the story.  You’d think that major leaguers would be immune to the razzing of opposing fans, even ones as notoriously obnoxious as the ones in Philly, but honestly, everyone’s got their breaking point…who’s to say that the Philly fan didn’t find Morgan’s?  And if that’s the case, and Morgan did set out to purposely injure someone by chucking a ball at their head, then seven games is near not enough punishment–I mean, supposed he had hit a kid, or a woman holding a baby.

Or worse…supposed he had hit the Phillie Phanatic?

[Washington Post]