Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson showed Giants CEO Larry Baer why his moniker is to "Fear the Beard" when he stormed over to him Thursday night following the Dodgers 3-2 loss to the Giants.
Following the final out of the game, Wilson marched out of the visitor's bullpen at AT&T Park in San Francisco and ran towards his former team's CEO and began to yell at him. Baer was watching the game from the stands right near the Giants' dugout and Wilson was fuming. The reason wasn't immediately clear as to what set Wilson off, but Yahoo! Sports reports it has to do with the 2012 World Series.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Wilson wasn't given a World Series ring for the Giants triumph in 2012, a season in which he underwent a second Tommy John surgery in April, forcing him to miss almost the entire campaign. After the season, the Giants opted not to sign Wilson and he eventually ended up in enemy territory playing for Los Angeles, but he still wants that ring.
Wilson wasn't quick to divulge what the argument was about.
"Just a conversation between me and him," Wilson told CSN Bay Area.
The ring would be the second to Wilson's collection, as he actively participated when the Giants won the World Series in 2010 over the Texas Rangers and he recorded the last out to give the Giants their first championship since moving from New York.
CSN Bay Area reported that the Giants confirmed it was about the ring, but the team says they made several attempts to give Wilson his ring. The news affiliate reports that club vice president Staci Slaughter said the ring was made in time for the ceremony in April where the championship rings were handed out, but Wilson declined the offer. Slaughter also said that she, Baer and manager Bruce Bochy all reached out to Wilson in the past seven months but none of their calls were returned.
The team also said, according to CSN Bay Area, that they gave the ring to Dodgers officials on Thursday and asked them to pass it along to Wilson for them.
"It's disappointing. It's unfortunate. It's bizarre, really," Slaughter said per Yahoo Sports. "This organization really has tried to do the right thing and I don't know where this is coming from. It wasn't for a lack of effort on our part. Everybody has made an effort to reach out to him."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Giants tried to give Wilson the ring Tuesday and he told them to put it in his locker but then wanted an on-field ceremony on Thursday. The paper also reported that he yelled at Baer to "stop using my image in stadium video highlights," but Baer denied the truth to that.
The good news for Wilson is he jumped sides at the right time as the Giants will miss the postseason while Wilson and the Dodgers have claimed the NL West title and look to kick off a road to the World Series when the playoffs start next week.
Perhaps if Wilson wins a third ring with the Dodgers, his scorn will go away as another World Series title may cool his venom.
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