The night Brandon Phillips wasn’t likeable at all

So there have always been plenty of good reasons to like Brandon Phillips. For one thing, he’s been a really good player for a while now. More to the point, a couple of years ago he surprised a few dozen people by showing up at a young fan’s Little League game. Which was really cool. Oh, and just a few weeks ago Phillips was anointed as THE MOST ENTERTAINING PLAYER IN BASEBALL.

Granted, you have to consider the source. But it’s never been difficult to like Brandon Phillips.

Wednesday night, it was difficult. Wednesday night, Phillips got down and dirty with a reporter who was guilty of absolutely nothing but doing his job, and doing it both fairly and accurately. Here’s the video; alas, all we can see is Dusty Baker’s smirking reactions. But the audio’s pretty clear if you listen closely ...

Brandon Phillips Goes off on Reporter from 101ESPN on Vimeo.

That’s just mean, not to mention unprofessional. And all because C. Trent Rosencrans had the temerity to mention in a couple of tweets that Phillips’ on-base percentage in the No. 2 slot -- a bugaboo for the Reds all season long -- is hardly optimal.

Listening to the audio, it’s clear that a) Phillips wasn’t screaming at Rosencrans, and b) Rosencrans can take care of himself. But that hardly excuses Phillips, who deserves more than the small fine he might (but probably won’t) get. At the very least, he owes Rosencrans a public apology. If that happens, maybe on Thursday we’ll like him again.

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