Seth Vigdor
By now you all know that Ryan Howard had a beer bottle thrown at him after Saturday’s game by some piece of trash. You also know that Charles Barkley is not one to bite his tongue on any subject. On Monday, Sir Charles stopped by Citizens Bank Park before the Cubs-Phillies game. He took a few swings in batting practice as seen below.
https://vine.co/v/i3WqttED1p2
Charles Barkley in the batting cage. pic.twitter.com/Jp4Ev4H6ab
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) June 6, 2016
But more importantly than all of that, Barkley also met with Ryan Howard. Barkley had to deal with fan vitriol a lot when he was in Philly regardless of how well he played. It happens in every city, but always gets magnified in Philly. But the thing is that we as a whole don’t want to stand for that reputation anymore. And, as a whole, I think this city’s fan base has shown just how great it can be in good times and bad.
But when a fan threw a beer bottle at Howard on Saturday, all bets were off. Philly outlets, including this one, were the first to report on it and try to get answers. There was no celebration for it. Regardless of Howard’s play on the field, everybody here knows what he’s done for this city and team through the years.
Sure, he’s not above criticism, but he is above getting things thrown at him. And Barkley made it well known how he would’ve liked Howard to handle the incident.
Here’s what Barkley had to say about the beer bottle throwing incident via CBS Philly.
“I’m just disappointed, very disappointed. I wish that to be honest, Ryan could just get his hands on him and just beat the hell out of him. That would be the appropriate response.”
That would’ve been the appropriate response. And quite frankly, it’s shocking that no one in the stands did that for Howard to the salmon color short wearing D Bag. Barkley did go onto talk about knowing that it’s a great city, but fully understanding there will always be a few bad apples.
“It’s a great city. Great fans, very passionate, but there’s always going to be a couple of bad apples.”
Indeed! Barkley went on to say he would’ve kicked the beer bottle thrower’s ass personally.
Watch the video below, courtesy of CSN Philly.