"Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo was saying Bryce Harper was a bad baseball player" - Ex-Twins slugger explains long-standing beef with top sportscaster

MLB analyst Chris Rose and ex-Minnesota Twins hitter Trevor Plouffe discussed Chris "Mad Dog" Russo's comments about Bryce Harper and his long-standing beef with Plouffe.

On Monday's edition of "Baseball Today," Plouffe talked about how his long-standing feud with Russo began due to his comments about the Philadelphia Phillies slugger.

"He (Russo) was saying Bryce Harper is a bad baseball player," Plouffe said. "I'm like- do you know ball? He was upset [hearing that from me]. He said "I can take it from some people.. [but not from me]."

"Apparently, I didn't do enough between the lines to garner any of "Mad Dog" Russo's respect, which is fine, because it goes both ways there." (30:58)

Russo got his nickname from Bob Raissman, a New York Daily News Sports TV radio commentator. The way Russo set about his work reminded him of former professional wrestler Maurice Vachon, who was also known as "Mad Dog."

Chris currently hosts his show, "Mad Dog Unleashed," on the Sirius XM radio station, which airs 3-6 PM Eastern.

What "Mad Dog" Russo said about Bryce Harper

In 2020, Chris Russo delivered a tirade about Bryce Harper and Trevor Bauer voicing their opinions about baseball's labor situation. According to Russo, players who underperformed had no right to make comments about important issues off the pitch.

Following Harper's tweet regarding the aforementioned labor concern, Russo said:

"Stop tweeting when you stunk. If Mike Trout tweets, I’ll live with it," Russo said. "He’s earned it. [Anthony] Rizzo tweets, he’s a champion. I’ll deal with that one. Harper’s done nothing. He got paid $336 million. If you don’t live up to the money and you stink, as he did, I can’t listen to you tell me, 'I’m raring to go.'"

"You were awful. Come on. There is some accountability. Guy is the highest-paid player in the sport and didn’t even make the All-Star team for crying out loud!" he added.

Russo specifically uploaded the audio clip of his comments to his page on X. Following Russo's outburst, there was an uproar on social media by fans and fellow professionals alike calling Russo out for his statements.