Giancarlo Stanton got revenge on pitcher who hit him in the face in 2014
New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton doesn’t tend to show a lot of emotion on the field. He stays even-keeled in good times and bad. So it might have been surprising to see Stanton taunt an opponent after hitting a home run.
Turns out, Stanton had his reasons for calling out Mike Fiers on Monday. It has to do with an event that happened back in 2014.
What happened in 2018?
Stanton proved he has a long memory during Monday’s game. In Stanton’s second at-bat against Fiers, the pitcher hit Stanton on the elbow with a high and inside fastball.
Stanton thought it was a little too close for comfort. As he walked down to first, he exchanged words with Fiers.
Stanton on what he said to Fiers: “Get it over the plate. I’m not trying to stir this up, that’s just what it is. Anything like that happens, another ball like that, no matter how many years it is, you're not going to be happy, not going to just walk to first and everything’s Ok"
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) June 5, 2018
Get him next time
When Stanton came up to bat in the sixth, he made Fiers pay. Fiers jumped out to an 0-2 count on the slugger before trying to strike him out with a curve ball. Stanton went down and got it, belting a solo home run.
When Stanton reached the plate, he pointed at Fiers to let him know he finally got his revenge. When asked about it, Stanton confirmed he pointed at Fiers, but didn’t give any more details.
Giancarlo Stanton, on if he pointed at Mike Fiers after crossing home plate; "Yes."
Reporter: "Why?"
Stanton: "Why not?"
Ok then.
— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldABC) June 5, 2018
Why was Stanton upset?
Fiers was the pitcher responsible for hitting Stanton in the face with a pitch in 2014. Stanton had to be carted off the field and missed the rest of that season due to the injury. Stanton was in an MVP race at the time of the injury, and it might have cost him the award.
Fiers did not intentionally hit Stanton with the pitch in 2014. Replays show Fiers was immediately concerned for Stanton after the play.
That didn’t seem to matter to Stanton on Monday, especially after Fiers hit him again.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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