Much of the intrigue going into the recent four-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants revolved around the previous dustup between Max Muncy and Madison Bumgarner at Oracle Park.
Just two batters into his June 9 start, Bumgarner allowed a 426-foot home run to Muncy — a majestic shot that landed in McCovey Cove. The left-hander took exception to Muncy admiring his drive and dropping his bat, leading to the two exchanging verbal jabs on the basepaths.
What Muncy shouted to Bumgarner — “Go get it out of the ocean” — instantly became a viral sensation, was an instant hit among baseball fans everywhere and led to the creation of t-shirts featuring the phrase.
Muncy sported different variations of the shirt during batting practice for each of the Dodgers’ four games against the Giants at Dodger Stadium this week. It added another layer of drama ahead of Bumgarner taking the mound for San Francisco in Thursday’s finale.
Throughout the contest, the Dodgers enjoyed more fun at the expense of Bumgarner by playing water-themed songs during his at-bats, and at times while on the mound and when walking off the field.
Kyle Garlick hit a home run off Madison Bumgarner, and @djsevere immediately started playing "Cake by the Ocean."
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) June 21, 2019
It was harmless in the eyes of most, though some took exception to the club’s heckling. During an appearance on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” show, former Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt didn’t hold back when voicing his displeasure over the Dodgers’ treatment of Bumgarner:
“I mean, the Dodgers, they always do stuff like that. They wear stupid t-shirts or whatever, they make stuff up and they have some fun. And they’re having fun. It’s easy to wear those shirts when you have 51 wins and you’re in first place and all that good stuff. Teams do have fun that way. I don’t necessarily… Basically, it was a stupid comment that made no sense. So, now you’re wearing a stupid shirt that makes no sense about a stupid comment. You’re not showing your intelligence there really, but I understand what they’re doing. They want to make fun of the deal and they’re showing it.
“But it’s not just that. It’s the shirt thing and then all of a sudden the first inning, Bum’s coming out and they play the “Little Mermaid” song. Then bases loaded, and they show Lou Seal around sharks in the Bay. I mean, you see all these things that they do, for me, it’s so minor league when they do that stuff. It’s just not what you do at a big league level. But then all of a sudden, if he hits you in the back, and there’s a huge fight that breaks out, you can’t sit there and say, ‘Well, we didn’t do anything.’ No, you egged it on. You egged it on with your shirt, you egged it on with the music, the stadium. If you’re going to egg it on and then it’s going to happen, don’t get mad that if it doesn’t happen and your player gets hurt.”
Some wondered whether the 29-year-old would try retaliating against the Dodgers for the events that took place leading up his start, but no further tensions came about. Instead, Los Angeles got the last laugh a second time.
Bumgarner coming out of the game as TLC's "Waterfalls" plays.
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) June 21, 2019
The club peppered Bumgarner and chased him out of the game in the fourth inning after tallying six runs and 10 hits against him. Having suffered his worst outing of the season, Bumgarner is likely already counting down the days until he gets to face his biggest rival again.
