Anthony Rendon gets into NSFW confrontation with A’s fan

An ugly scene unfolded Thursday night after the A’s beat the Angels 2-1 on opening night.

As Los Angeles infielder Anthony Rendon exited the field, he got into it with an A’s fan, who was getting pushed toward the rail by another fan, between the visiting dugout and the stairs up to the clubhouse. Rendon grabbed the fan’s jersey and was clearly upset about something he thought the guy said during the game.

Wow! Uncool! pic.twitter.com/FNRFWL46A0

— PetrosAndMoneyShow (@PetrosAndMoney) March 31, 2023

The exchange was NSFW, but here’s what I heard:

Rendon: “What’d you say?”

Fan: “I didn’t say anything.”

Rendon: “Yeah, you called me a bitch, huh?”

Fan: “No I didn’t. That was not me.”

Rendon: “Yeah, motherfucker!”

Then Rendon tried to slap the fan as he pulled away.

Rendon: “Get your bitch ass outta here.”

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Yikes. There’s a lot to unpack here in a 12-second clip.

– First of all, who’s the guy pushing the fan toward the rail? Rendon’s dad?

– Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani look confused as they walk by and observe the situation.

– What if the fan didn’t actually say those things to Rendon?

Even if the fan did call him a “bitch,” is it really worth losing your cool over? I’ve never been called a bitch before at work (that I can remember lol) but I’ve also never signed a seven-year, $245 million deal to do my very public job in a stadium full of drunk people. If I was getting paid $38 million this year like Rendon, I’d probably just keep it moving. That’s why they get the big bucks, to deal with the heightened scrutiny, attention and heckles. No need to get physical.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the league has to issue some sort of comment regarding this situation, because it’s a bad look for Rendon. Last season, White Sox infielder Tim Anderson was originally handed a suspension flipping off Cleveland Guardians fans, but it was reduced to a fine after an appeal.