The Hardest Thing To Watch
I can not say how far my opinion of Hunter Strickland dropped after that scene. I don’t think he was intentionally yelling at Perez, and there was a long shot (rarely seen in the highlights) where Strickland was walking away from home plate as Perez reached it, not focusing on that at all, and Perez starts barking to turn Strickland around and really begin the bench-clearing.
But Strickland has to keep his cool. He’s giving up home runs like he’s a batting practice coach. Don’t tell someone else to get on the bench when you’re about to get your ass sat down on it as well.
Closers need to have fire, sure. But you don’t have to be an ass. Closers who turn into those (Brian Wilson, John Rocker) usually have jokes that outlive their closing careers.
Stop it. Get back to winning.
