Joey Bart refuses reporter's bait when asked about grand slam against SF Giants

The former Giant was magnanimous on Thursday.

San Francisco Giants v Pittsburgh Pirates
San Francisco Giants v Pittsburgh Pirates | Justin Berl/GettyImages

The SF Giants got bit in the rear yesterday when their former top prospect Joey Bart hit a grand slam against them. However, after the game Bart did not take the bait when he was asked about what it meant to do it against the Giants.

Joey Bart refuses reporter's bait when asked about grand slam against SF Giants

Bart hit a grand slam off of pitcher Mason Black in the 4th inning of yesterday's game against the Pirates to give Pittsburgh a 4 run lead. It seemed like Bart had just assured the Giants would lose the series.

However, the Giants did not give up. Just like in Wednesday's game the Giants were able to take advantage of the Pittsburgh bullpen. A 5-run 8th inning gave the Giants a lead that their bullpen was able to hang onto and win the game, stealing the series from the Pirates with back to back epic comebacks.

After the game, Bart was asked about his grand slam against his former team. It was clear the reporters wanted him to give them a juicy soundbite about his former team or make some declaration about how the Giants were fools to get rid of him. Bart did not take that path.

Bart was asked to add context to his grand slam, but he simply said it felt nice to square a pitch up and have a good result. Then, another reporter doubled down asking whether it was any sweeter given it came against his former team. Bart sort of smirked and scoffed and said, "I don't know, man. I'll take any one I hit. Any home run, any base hit, it doesn't matter who we're playing."

It would have been more than easy for Bart to take the bait. The Giants and Pirates will not play again this year unless they meet in the postseason so it would have been the perfect time to verbally dunk on your former team. Yet, Bart chose the humble and magnanimous path.

Perhaps part of that has to do with the Giants ultimately winning the game. Talking trash on your former team publicly after they overcame your grand slam is not exactly a cool move. Plus, deep down Bart probably feels some satisfaction doing what he did against the Giants after they moved on from him in favor of Patrick Bailey. Yet, he resisted the temptation to air whatever he may feel publicly which is a classy move and is consistent with the maturity and grace he displayed during his time as a Giant.

Ultimately, Bart probably understood that things just did not work out when he was a Giants and that is not necessarily anyone's fault. Now, he seems very content and happy with his fresh start on a new team and is clearly already thriving.

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