The Palmetto State rivalry ended on Tuesday when the Gamecocks took two out of three from Clemson in a 5-4 win at Fluor Field in Greenville. Ray Tanner showed rare emotion in the post-game press conference calling out the Tigers for a couple of incidents. Tanner was upset that Jack Leggett questioned Jackie Bradley, Jr's bat during a first inning HR on Sunday. The bat was cleared and the home run stood. In addition, Will Lamb called Gamecocks pitcher Tyler Webb soft on his Twitter account. Tanner had strong words in the post-game press conference.
On Wednesday, Leggett spoke with Tanner on the phone for 45 minutes to clear the air
"I feel like we got it all hashed out. I feel like we're in a good place right now. I feel we're both poised to have really good seasons," Leggett said. "Like I say, I think that everything's been straightened out. I think we're in a situation where we have an understanding where everybody's coming from. For me that's a positive."
"I think in the end it will help this rivalry be a good one and may bring it back into check where it needs to be."
Ray Tanner showed rare emotion when talking about the incidents on Tuesday
"Tonight was great. They had us we battled they battled they almost got us at the end. That's what it should be about. We shouldn't have this conversation. I'm not happy about having it, but I'm telling you how I feel. For many many years, I don't tell you how I feel. I'm telling you tonight. I'm not happy with what has transpired," Tanner said. "I'm not boiling. I'm just telling you how it is. The whole thing was a bunch of shennanigans and I don't think that's what this rivalry should be about."
"I think that for many, many years, I take the high road and in this situation - these guys were effected by some comments. I felt like it was ok. It was ok - give them an opportunity to tell me how they felt - they did and I said ok, let's battle. You don't have to keep yourself in check so much. If you feel like saying something, say it. We had a meeting, talked it out and went back to baseball."
Tanner on the Jackie Bradley bat inspection
"I have great respect for Jack Leggett. I would have really appreciated it if he would have confronted me face to face about any situation. Before then, after then, any way addressed it -he's never done that."
"I didn't appreciate it. I'm offended by it. I don't cheat. I don't allow my players to cheat. We haven't done anything wrong. I felt like we were called out a little bit. I don't appreciate it. I don't appreciate what Will Lamb said about one of my pitchers, I don't apprecaite that. Now he's entitled to say whatever he wants to say. I don't appreciate it. My players didn't like and I didn't like it. End of story."
