Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon has been given a five-game suspension for a public altercation with a fan in Oakland last week, videos of which circulated through social media.
The decision was announced by Major League Baseball, specifically senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill, on Monday. If Rendon does not appeal, he will begin serving his suspension during the team’s road game against the division-rival Seattle Mariners on Monday afternoon.
Rendon, who was also fined an undisclosed amount, grabbed a fan by his shirt as he was making his way out of the third-base dugout and into the tunnel that leads to the visitors’ clubhouse at RingCentral Coliseum on Thursday night, in the aftermath of the Angels’ 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day. Rendon accused the fan of calling him a “b—-“, then took a swipe at his head before walking away.
MLB has dealt with a handful of fan-related incidents with its players over the last several years, including a couple last year, when Tim Anderson was given a one-game suspension for flipping off a fan in April and Amir Garrett was docked three games for throwing a drink at a fan in August.
In August of 2010, Nyjer Morgan received a seven-game suspension for throwing a ball into the stands. Six years earlier, in September of 2004, Milton Bradley was suspended for the final five regular-season games — plus the ensuing postseason — for approaching a fan who threw a plastic bottle in his direction, and Frank Francisco received a 16-game suspension for throwing a chair that hit a fan.
Rendon, 32, is nearing the midway point of a seven-year, $245 million contract that has thus far been a massive disappointment. A litany of injuries — to his left groin, left knee, left hamstring, right hip and right wrist — limited Rendon to 105 of a possible 324 games from 2021 to 2022, during which he batted .235/.328/.381.
Rendon was a .290/.369/.490 hitter while spending his first six years with the Washington Nationals, during which he made an All-Star team, won two Silver Slugger Awards and helped lead the franchise to its first and only World Series title.