Kansas City Royals pitcher Amir Garrett lost his temper during a game on Tuesday night.
Amir Garrett pitching for the Omaha Storm Chasers on a rehabilitation assignment during a 2022 game at Werner Park in Nebraska. Photo Credit: Minda Haas Kuhlmann, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
During the game, Garrett was being heckled by a Chicago White Sox fan at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Royals were getting their butts kicked, and on his way back to the dugout the fan chirped away at Garrett.
Video footage of the incident shows Garrett arguing with a fan in a gray t-shirt. Suddenly, Garrett traded in throwing baseballs for throwing drinks, as he tossed a drink of clear liquid on the fan. Some of the drink splashed onto a kid nearby as well.
A Twitter user claiming to be the fan shared video of the incident and detailed, “Javier Báez, told Amir Garrett tonight he stunk and you were better than him. He threw water at me.”
@javy23baez Told Amir Garrett tonight he stunk and you were better than him. He threw water at me 😂 pic.twitter.com/mMEZkbLpUx
— EJK (@coltsejk) August 3, 2022
After the game, the 30-year-old pitcher took to Twitter to comment on the incident, noting the fan had “disrespected” him.
“Listen the disrespect is insane in these parks,” Garrett proclaimed. “I really wish I could go to someone’s work and run my mouth. These are grown men talking slick. How miserable do you have to be with your own life?”
Amir Garrett Twitter
The Royals and White Sox hadn’t commented on the incident, but the next day Garrett seemingly had a change of heart, apologizing for throwing a drink on the fan who heckled him.
He posted to Twitter, “I owe the fan from last night’s incident an apology. I realize my actions were uncalled for and that as players we are held to a higher standard and the chirping from fans is a part of today’s game. I hope he can forgive me.”
“With that being said, I’m a human that makes mistakes. I will continue to grow and learn from any and all mistakes I make and appreciate everyone’s support while doing so,” the apology continued.
“Again, I sincerely apologize to last night’s fan and all fans who were around. This is a beautiful game that we share, as fans and as players. Let’s continue to cherish our beautiful game together.”
Amir Garrett Twitter
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Obviously, it’s far more likely that Garrett was told to apologize rather than suddenly believing he shouldn’t have reacted.
Garrett infamously attacked the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout back in 2019 when he played for the Cincinnati Reds. After some chirping from the dugout, Garrett dashed over to their bench and threw a Superman punch dropping one of the Pirates team to his knees.
The attack saw Garrett get mobbed and turned into an all-out brawl, something you’re more likely to see in hockey than baseball, between both teams
As for Garrett’s behavior towards the fan, some level of heckling professional athletes is part of sports, but there is a fine line between what’s reasonable and when you’re asking for trouble.
Professional athletes have feelings and they each have different levels of patience and understanding. Fans can heckle if they so choose, but they should expect that could come with consequences if they do—just as they would with anyone else, they talked to like that.
Amir Garrett via Baseball on Fanatics View on YouTube
Do you believe professional athletes should be forced to take heckling from fans?
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