Victor Robles responds to Madison Bumgarner calling him a 'clown' for admiring home run
It's difficult to find a current Major League player who polices baseball's unwritten rules quite like Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner. All it takes is one bat flip or a player staring at a home run for a few extra seconds to have Bumgarner fuming.
Max Muncy knows all too well what it's like to have Bumgarner crying foul about home run etiquette. This weekend, it was Victor Robles' turn to deal with Bumgarner's complaints. But hey, at least Robles had fun with the whole ordeal.
During Saturday's game, Robles hit an eighth-inning home run off of Bumgarner with the Nationals down six runs. And while it's often silly to see a player celebrate while losing big, it's been a rough year for Robles and the Nationals — he's allowed to admire a home run if he wants.
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Bumgarner felt differently because, of course, he did. After the game, which Arizona won 7-2, Bumgarner called Robles a "clown" for celebrating the homer like he was Barry Bonds. Obviously, Bumgarner could have avoided the situation by simply not giving up a home run to Victor Robles. If you don't like the celebration, don't give up the homer.
Robles, who pointed out the hypocrisy of Bumgarner's tendency to celebrate his own big strikeouts, had an additional response for Sunday's game. He was seen in the Nationals dugout wearing a clown nose.
Well played, Victor.
Nationals manager Martinez wasn’t as thrilled with Robles’ light-hearted jab after Washington’s 4-3 win Sunday.
“I didn’t see it. I heard about it,” Martinez said. “I’ll talk to him. That’s not who we are. It happened, it’s done, I don’t want to see that kind of stuff.”
Bumgarner should probably stop worrying about how other players celebrate, but he's never been one to let those things go. MLB fans did love how Robles handled the situation, though.
Contributing: The Associated Press