Joe Maddon Doesn't Blame Bryce Harper for Brawl, Charging Mound vs. Giants

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he supported the decision by Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper to charge the mound Monday to fight San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Hunter Strickland after getting hit by a pitch. 

On Tuesday, CBS Chicago passed along comments the Cubs skipper made during an appearance on the outlet's Spiegel and Parkins Show about his stance on similar situations.

"I was really disappointed in all that myself," Maddon said. "I don't blame Bryce for what he did whatsoever. I always tell my hitters, 'Either go to first or go to the mound if you're challenged like that.'"

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post noted Harper was surprised Strickland would still be upset over a pair of home runs he hit in the 2014 National League Division Series and would go as far as to retaliate all this time later.

"I don't want to go on a baseball field and try to fight somebody. Especially when it's somebody that it's in the past. It's so in the past that it's not even relevant anymore," he said. "They won the World Series that year. I don't even think he should be thinking about what happened in the first round. He should be thinking about wearing that ring home every single night. I don't know why he did it or what he did it for, but I guess it happens."

Meanwhile, Strickland said he was merely trying to pitch inside to Harper and didn't locate properly, per Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group.

"Yeah, I can see how that kind of stands in peoples' minds," Strickland said. "But that's the past. Like I said, I left the ball over the plate to him a couple of times to him and he's taken advantage of that. So obviously, I'd rather miss in than over the plate."

Maddon told CBS Chicago he doesn't believe there's anything the league can do to take the old-school mentality of players handling things themselves on the field out of the game. He thinks only a discussion between the players through the union could have any real impact.

The benches-clearing brawl between the Nationals and Giants became the latest in a series of high-profile incidents during the early stages of this season. Other examples include situations where tempers flared between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles as well as the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays.