When professional athletes engage in fights — which are almost almost meaningless and puerile — two things usually happen:
- The players’ teammates tend to strongly take the side of their fighting coworker.
- The fans tend to feel warm, fuzzy thoughts for the fighting player wearing the jersey they like, while holding hatred for the opposing fighter.
The fact that neither of those things were true for former San Francisco Giants reliever Hunter Strickland when he instigated a fight with then-Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper is a testament to just how ridiculous the fight was.