On June 9, 2019, the Los Angeles Dodgers took on the San Francisco Giants on a Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park in what was a pitcher’s duel between two of the league’s best in Walker Buehler and Madison Bumgarner.
The Dodgers got on the board in the top of the first inning when Max Muncy launched a 2-1 fastball right down the middle over the right-field fence and into McCovey Cove for a solo home run.
The blast was a majestic one and Muncy did what he usually does when he hits a ball that far, staring at it for a quick second before doing his signature bat drop. That led to one of the most controversial and awesome moments of the Dodgers’ 2019 season as to no surprise, Bumgarner took exception to Muncy taking a peek at his home run ball.
After the two exchanged many words while Muncy was rounding around the bases, it was later revealed that Muncy told Bumgarner that if he has a problem with anything he did then he can “go get it out of the ocean.”
While there were only words exchanged and no further altercations, the ocean line blew up on social media and became a joke in the Dodgers clubhouse with many players wearing t-shirts alluding to the incident.
The jokes were hilarious and continue to be to this day, but it’s easy to overlook how important that home run actually was as the Dodgers went on to win the game 1-0.
Bumgarner was untouchable after serving up that homer, allowing just four hits and a run in seven innings. He took the loss though after being outdueled by Buehler, who pitched seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen then shut the door down by pitching scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to complete the shutout.
It will be interesting to see if the feud continues now that Bumgarner will be playing in the division once again as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Muncy has already said that he didn’t enjoy the attention that was created by the incident, although if he were to perhaps take Bumgarner deep into the pool at Chase Field, who knows what would ensue.
Murray ties MLB record on this day in Dodgers history
Also on June 9, but in 1990, Eddie Murray hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the 10th time in his career to Mickey Mantle’s record for most in MLB history.
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