Anthony Rendon does what he should have on Friday while discussing fan altercation

Anthony Rendon spoke to the media for the first time following an altercation with a fan on Friday night. He appears to have learned.

On Friday night, Los Angeles Angels infielder Anthony Rendon got physical with a fan who allegedly called him a curse word. The incident involved Rendon grabbing the Oakland A’s fan’s shirt and attempting to slap the fan’s head, which appeared to miss.

The MLB as well as Oakland police are investigating the incident.

On Saturday morning, Rendon met with the media for the first time and talked about the incident. Well, “talked about,” is kind of a loose definition here, because according to The Athletic’s Sam Blum, Rendon gave mostly non-answers and rushed off during the conversation.

Anthony Rendon should have kept quiet and kept it moving Friday night

While Rendon is going the “no comment” route with reporters on Saturday likely due to an ongoing legal and league investigation, it’s still ironic because that’s exactly what he should have done on Friday night: Just keep quiet and keep it moving.

Look, that’s not to say fans who hurl curse words at players are in the right or vindicated by this incident. That’s not OK either, and no one should have to be verbally abused when they’re just trying to do their job.

But if you’re going to respond, you just simply can’t get physical as a professional player. The risk is too high, and you have everything to lose. It’s hard to keep your cool when fans in the stands start calling you things no human being should ever have to be called, but you just can’t take it to the phyiscal level if you’re a player.

Shout back if you wish, but you just can’t touch the fans.

As of now, nothing has materialized from the MLB or Oakland Police Department investigations that we know of.

Subtly, it’s also a reminder that the Oakland A’s desperately need a new home park, too. The walkways at the Oakland Coliseum put the players and fans within arm’s reach which is exactly why this incident was a possibility in the first place.