FAYETTEVILLE - Mississippi State avoided a series sweep at Arkansas on Sunday but the Bulldogs will be without a starter for at least one upcoming game as a result.
Mississippi State Brent Brownlee was caught by TV cameras flipping off the crowd after the Bulldogs recorded the final out in the ninth inning. The junior had been playing in left field, where alcohol is permitted beyond the outfield wall. Not coincidentally, the crowd in the area is more vocal most games and had heckled Brownlee, like all other opposing left fielders, throughout the weekend.
That doesn’t excuse the gesture, however, which was immature. Mississippi State coach John Cohen was quick to notify fans via Twitter Sunday afternoon the outfielder will be suspended for the gesture, though he didn’t say for how long.
“Brent is a model student-athlete who had a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to an unsettling situation,” Cohen said. “No amount of verbal abuse or threats of physical violence from fans justifies Brent’s reaction.”
Had Mississippi State officials not acted swiftly to the action, it’s likely the Southeastern Conference would have. The popularity of the sport in the league is growing and league officials understand actions like Brownlee’s will be further magnified if they go unpunished. Making a swift example of Sunday’s gesture will only benefit the future of the league’s baseball brand, which is second-to-none.
It was inappropriate for a sporting event at any level and a damper on an otherwise well-played ballgame.
You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.
Classless as it was, it’s equally as classless to hear the reports of what was being said to the kid. Heckling is one thing…the comments being made to an 18-22 year old for 4+ innings were just as classless and immature as his reaction. Might want to do a little more investigating into this incident. Cohen has already alluded to it in his post-game twitter messages.
Yeah, this trend where fans supposedly have carte blanche to heckle players annoys me. When fans are allowed too much latitude, events like the Artest Melee, the Dodgers fan assault, and the White Sox fan assault happen. Fans should be allowed to heckle about on the field performance, but the proper authorities should step in when they cross line into personal or familial insults.
I don’t know that that’s what happened here, but unless the kid has extremely thin skin, SOMETHING serious prompted him to respond like that.
I’ve seen MANY opposing players flip off the outfield crowd at Baum, this one just got caught on camera. He heard no worse than what our players hear on the road in the SEC.
I was in the outfield today and have been there many times. There was no cussing of the player. Heckling yes, cussing never. Basically some guy told him that he was the worst left fielder they had seen this year. Seriously, it’s baseball and our players hear much much worse on the road. If anyone uses unsuitable language out there they will be and have been kicked out. It’s usually just funny stuff you hear out there. Heckling and a little mean at times, of course. This player needs to grow up and get over it.
Robbie,
If that was all that was said, then that kid needs to develop thicker skin.
I to was out in the outfield area. Very Close to Mr Brownlee…and the worst thing said to him all day was the afor mentioned comment about his being the worst Leftfielder they’ve seen all year. There was absolutely no cursing or bad language used towards him of any kind. He just needs to grow up and get over himself. Hes going to get Heckled where ever he goes , on any SEC field. Such is life. It aint pretty… but ya go with the flow…
I was in left field today and my friend was the one that prompted the gesture. His comment, and the most common one that afternoon was that Brownlee “threw like a girl”. I didn’t hear any cussing aimed toward him this afternoon, but he heard heckling all weekend, he made some good plays, I’m sure he was glad the game and series was over. He caught the winning out and comments were made, comments that he responded to with an inappropriate gesture. Having been there I honestly don’t blame the kid. I understand he represents Mississippi State, but Baum can be a tough crowd. I don’t think he should be suspended.
I was in the outfield and I called the kid a bleeping bleepidy bleep who could go bleep his bleeeping bleeep bleeep bleeeep bleeep bleeep! What? Was I wrong for that?
I understand fans are not going to welcome opponents with open arms; however, fans being obnoxious to opponents players is uncalled for. Some folks use alcohol as an excuse to show their rear ends. It’s not cute folks, it shows just how stupid you are!
Take away the booze and most of the classless comments from teh fans will disappear.
Don’t we have security at Baum? Unless we assume that we have a security problem, then we should back off making assumptions about the fans. For sure, what the player did was unsportsmanlike. Regardless to what may have been said, or was not said, players should know better. The player was suspended. Move on unless SEC want to crack down on security? Because at the end of the day, if ANYBODY is doing ANYTHING that could considered offensive to ANY player, then Security is responsible for escorting them out. When you are on the road and the game is over, go home. Don’t use your time to gloat and\or retaliate.
The heckling is part of home field advantage. It’s the crowd’s job to get in the head of the opposing players a little. Sometimes it backfires and the player gets hyper-focused and plays lights out. I personally don’t think I’ve ever said anything to opposing player, but in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with a little good natured ribbing like telling him “you throw like a girl”. However, I don’t condone anything being said that I shouldn’t be heard by children, though. And, as a previous reply said, alcohol is no excuse for unacceptable behavior.
This guy got no worse than anyone else has in my 10 years of going to games. Let’s not blame our own fans for this guy showing his arse.. cussing isn’t allowed out there and I have seen many asked to leave when it crosses the line. There’s no crying in baseball, that kid just needs to toughen up.. he just showed that the crowd got into his head.
Sounds to me the kid took it pretty well for the games, played well and got the last laugh! No hard feelings on my part with the kid, If you dish it out, be ready to take it. Kid should only be suspended because the camara caught him.
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