Rendon suspended 4 games, fined following fan incident

SEATTLE -- A contrite Anthony Rendon spoke to the media and said that he had apologized to the fan with whom he had an altercation on Thursday.

The Angels' third baseman will serve a four-game suspension that began Monday night in the opener of a three-game series vs. the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

Rendon was originally suspended five games, but after he dropped an appeal of the suspension, Major League Baseball reduced it by one game.

Rendon got into an altercation with the fan, which was caught on video on social media, after the Angels’ 2-1 loss to the A’s in Oakland Coliseum on Opening Day.

“It sucked,” Rendon said on Monday. “My emotions got the best of me. I'm usually pretty good about interacting with fans … have fun with it. But the gentleman [and I], we spoke on the phone, and we both apologized about what had happened. And so we're both ready to move forward.”

Angels manager Phil Nevin said the club is ready to do the same.

“He's remorseful for everything that happened,” Nevin said. “This doesn’t at all change how I feel about him as a person. … He's a great leader on our team and he has accepted responsibility as a good leader.”

Rendon said he tried to go talk to the fan after the game on Thursday, but by the time he had gone into the clubhouse, taken off his jersey, and walked back out to the stands, the security guard informed him that the fan had already left. He reached the fan by phone on Monday.

Rendon said he understands why he shouldn’t have become so angry.

“I can’t be mad, right?” he said. “I’m a fan of other sports.”