Phillies: Joe Girardi Stands Firm on Incident with Max Scherzer

Just last week, things got a little sticky (pun intended) between Phillies manager Joe Girardi and Nationals ace Max Scherzer.

As you probably know by now, Major League Baseball has started cracking down on sticky substances and has started inspecting pitchers – yes, even during innings. This new MLB rule went into effect on June 21, the day before the Phillies-Nationals drama.

What happened between Girardi and Scherzer is one of the most talked-about results of the new rules, at least so far.

Here’s a little taste of how Max Scherzer was feeling after being checked multiple times:

Scherzer was clean of any sticky substance, but then, Girardi stormed onto the field and things got pretty heated between him and the Nationals dugout, he was ejected from the game.

Now, manager Joe Girardi is holding firm, maintaining that he did what he thought was right. He told MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM:

"“I gotta do what I think is right. And you know, I look at this deeper in a lot of situations because I do care about our game. You know, I’m gonna only manage for so long, but I’m gonna watch this game for a long, long time and I want to be entertained. I want it to be fair on both sides.”"

You can listen to the full clip:

It’s admirable that Girardi isn’t backing down and is standing by what he did, despite all the backlash and drama that ensued because of it. He seems genuine, but moving forward, that won’t be the case if this continues to happen with Girardi and other pitchers.