It was the set of comments that lit a fire under Bryce Harper.
After the Atlanta Braves’ Game 2 win thanks to Michael Harris’s amazing catch and Harper getting doubled off first because he ran past second base, a Fox Sports reporter overheard Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia saying, repeatedly, “Ha-ha, atta-boy, Harper.”
In Game 3, Harper stared down Arcia twice as he rounded the bases for two dingers in the Philadelphia Phillies’ win on Wednesday night.
Arcia, of course, was asked about the comments after Game 3, and he said that Harper wasn’t supposed to hear them because they was said in the clubhouse:
"He wasn't supposed to hear."
Orlando Arcia discusses his comments made about Bryce Harper in the clubhouse after Game 2: pic.twitter.com/n9U3PS3sVr
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 12, 2023
Braves catcher Travis D’Arnaud added that “the clubhouse is a sanctuary.”
d’Arnaud responded to Arcia’s celebration & the quote heard after the Braves win on Monday. pic.twitter.com/LrzTXi2OcU
— Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull) October 12, 2023
Here’s Harper talking about the comments:
Bryce Harper on Braves' shortstop Orlando Arcia:
“I stared right at him” #Phillies @SportsRadioWIP pic.twitter.com/g3LbCf0UfT
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) October 12, 2023
This, I’m sure, will make players think twice at what they’re saying when reporters are around, even if mics aren’t on them at the moment.