Bryce Harper insists he did not flip off Washington Nationals fans during Thursday night's game, despite what video appeared to show.
The 33-year-old Philadelphia Phillies star was back in D. C.
, where he was greeted with hostile chants from the crowd.
The Nationals jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Phillies rallied to tie the game by the top of the ninth inning.
Harper then stepped to the plate and crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left field fence, putting the Phillies ahead 7-5.
As he rounded first base, Harper appeared to extend his middle finger toward the Nationals faithful. However, the two-time N.
L. MVP later clarified the gesture.
“Ring finger, though, just want to make sure that's out there,” Harper told reporters in the visitors' clubhouse, emphasizing it was not his middle finger.
Close examination of images supports his claim — it was indeed his ring finger. The intent behind the taunt remains unclear.
Harper has not won a World Series, while the Nationals won in 2019, the season after he left for Philadelphia on a $330 million contract.
He expressed confusion over the treatment he received from fans during the series, given his seven years with the team.
“It's all part of it.
It's weird coming from a fanbase, obviously, that I sweated for, for seven years, but there's a lot of people around here that enjoy me.
So it's all part of it. It's all fun,” Harper said.
Harper got the last laugh as his Phillies won 7-5.
