Gamesmanship

In a bit of gamesmanship 12 years ago today in Miami, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen complains about the amount of pine tar on the bat of Washington's Bryce Harper, prompting plate umpire Marty Foster to ask the Nationals’ prized rookie to use a different bat on his next trip to the plate.

That comes in the fourth inning of Washington’s 4-0 victory, but not before Harper mockingly points his new bat toward the ever-combustible Guillen, who in an apparent case of projection calls Harper’s actions unprofessional.

“I could have said a lot of (stuff) about this kid,” Guillen tells writers after the game. “I’ve been praising this kid like every day. The last three times they asked me about him, the only thing I said was he’s a great player. What he did was unprofessional.”

As for Harper, he finishes the game 0-for-4, but ends up as the National League’s rookie of the year after hitting .270 in 139 games with 22 home runs and 59 runs batted in.

For his part 12 years ago today, Harper takes the mature route after the game, deflecting all questions about Guillen other than to say he is “a great manager.”

Nationals manager Davey Johnson has other thoughts about Guillen.

“Ozzie had complained that the pine tar was too high up on Harper’s bat, so we changed it,” Johnson says after the game. “Then he was still chirping about it. It got on the umpire’s nerves. It got on my nerves. He was trying to intimidate my player, I guess. That’s not going to bother our player.”