A world of reactions to the Jonathan Papelbon fray

First up is a piece over at Grantland that is not only a good read but also includes a professional lip-reading of the altercation (yes, you saw all the language you think you saw):

Ben Lindbergh crushes it for the papelbon Haper tet-a-tet. http://t.co/JL8QsUd80Z href="http://t.co/FWaYvgwEgg">pic.twitter.com/FWaYvgwEgg

— Sean Forman (@sean_forman) September 28, 2015

Next we have our old friend Adam Kilgore popping his head up to share a word of wisdom:

"f Harper isn’t playing the right way, more players should figure out how to play the wrong way." - @AdamKilgoreWP http://t.co/fMkKosSrAG

— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) September 28, 2015

Thomas Boswell is not happy with the Nationals and wants changes made:

My col: If Matt Williams was at Ford's Theater,, he'd have said, "Somebody got shot?" Time for Matt & Pap to go. https://t.co/g5BiHlzKnM

— Thomas Boswell (@ThomasBoswellWP) September 29, 2015

If you think a Ford's Theater allusion is iffy, check out this tweet by Jeff Sullivan:

Nationals announce Jonathan Papelbon will be suspended from a bridge

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) September 28, 2015

Sullivan later clarified that he did not mean "hung to death", but it might be best to entirely avoid saying things that require that kind of clarification.  Not everyone pushed the envelope with their criticism:

Papelbon is a bully. Nothing more. Nothing less. Picking on someone who's better than him because he's a little person with hurt feelings.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 28, 2015

Though some apparently took this opportunity as a challenge:

If Bryce Harper had helped storm the beaches of Normandy our history books would note most veteran players sided with the Germans...

— Nick J. Faleris (@NickJFaleris) September 29, 2015

Yup, that's Godwin's law for you. Happens every time. The reference to "most veteran players" is in response to this collection of reactions from anonymous players who apparently all took Papelbon's side:

Players weigh in on Harper-Papelbon. And where's the objectivity?...For #JABO...http://t.co/qhR5cJeyql

— CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) September 28, 2015

That is not to say that all anonymous players think alike:

.@CJNitkowski we definitely know different players. Text I received from current player: "I wish Bryce would have punched him in the face."

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) September 28, 2015

Keith Olberman tried employing humor:

The one #Nats comfort of course was knowing Papelbon's command + control meant a maximum of 1 of 10 rights would have gone where he aimed.

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 27, 2015

While Nick Stellini decided to go for the straightforward "assault is bad" script:

.@StelliniTweets writing words you didn't think needed to be written. http://t.co/U3eaZaWJD4 pic.twitter.com/AamrOnndeC

— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) September 29, 2015

There are loads more reactions out there on Twitter and on Facebook and here in our comments sections.  We have seen season ticket holders vow not to renew their plans if Matt Williams and Papelbon remain with the Nats.  We have seen people use this incident to try to denigrate or make fun of the Nationals as a whole, but after double checking it turns out the Nationals as a team are still awesome and deserve our support. Just ask Ian Desmond:

Before I forget, Ian Desmond's message to #Nats fans http://t.co/awMARfNcZP pic.twitter.com/xa9UPIROv3

— Chris Lingebach (@ChrisLingebach) September 27, 2015