In vintage Max Scherzer fashion, pitcher Max Scherzer refused to come out of the game during a fifth inning mound visit from Blue Jays manager John Schneider in the team's 8–2 win in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. A fired-up Scherzer yelled in Schneider's face, sending his manager back to the dugout, before he picked up a huge strikeout to snuff a potential Mariners rally and end the fifth inning.
By now, many fans have seen the video of that exchange—the mound visit outburst heard 'round the world. But what fans may not have seen or heard is that the conversation was ongoing in the dugout after the fifth inning. Schneider approached Scherzer in the clubhouse following the mound visit and asked the 41-year-old if he was alright to continue pitching in the sixth inning.
Scherzer responded as you might imagine. Here's the exchange, as told to ESPN's Buster Olney and transcribed for your enjoyment.
Schneider: (asks if Scherzer is alright to continue pitching).
Scherzer: "What, are you f------ crazy?"
Schneider: "Ok, go do it."
Scherzer: "I will—Get the f--- out of here."
That sounds exactly like how Scherzer would respond to such a question. And indeed, Scherzer—while speaking to reporters after the game—confirmed that a conversation took place between he and Schneider before the sixth inning.
And while it may have looked like Scherzer was fighting to stay in the game, the veteran pitcher told reporters he believed his manager was playing a "mind game."
"I think he wasn't planning—gathering from the bullpen—that he wasn't actually planning on taking me out," Scherzer said. "He just wanted to check on me. So I don't think I actually fought to stay in. I think it was kind of a mind game to kind of get me going."
Mind game or not, Scherzer—like the bulldog he's been throughout his Hall of Fame career—gritted his teeth and got out of the fifth inning. And while his second conversation with Schneider ultimately didn't lead to him getting out of the inning—Scherzer came out of the game with two outs in the sixth inning—it didn't detract from the outstanding outing he gave Toronto in a near-must-win.
So if Schneider was playing mind games with the expressive Scherzer, it sure seems like it worked.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as What Max Scherzer Told John Schneider in Clubhouse After Mound Visit Outburst.
