Murphy's humorous reaction to going viral after HBP on butt

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There was no shortage of viral moments from the Athletics’ 13-2 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, from a position player pitching to several booming home runs by Oakland. 

But one clip in particular involving Sean Murphy’s, um, backside was the talk of the internet following the game. 

Facing an 0-2 count in the first inning, Murphy was looking to protect the plate. It turns out he should have been protecting his bottom as Rays pitcher Chris Mazza plunked him on the behind with a breaking ball. 

In almost no time at all, social media was abuzz and the topic of conversation was Murphy. One Twitter post of the clip has already amassed 12 million views and thousands of complimentary comments, and even Murphy’s teammate Tony Kemp got involved.

Murphy went on to score after being hit thanks to Seth Brown’s second home run of the season, and the catcher also hit his first career triple in the sixth inning. Neither of those baseball moments had quite the impact on the world at large as Murphy’s viral at-bat. 

Speaking with reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game, Murphy said he found all the attention humorous (h/t Matt Kawahara).

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“It’s crazy how social media is,” Murphy said. “I could have hit four home runs yesterday, four grand slams, and it wouldn’t have had the attention I had last night. So it’s just crazy with social media. It’s funny.”

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He went on to tell reporters he received “a lot of compliments” as a result of the clip, and even though he doesn’t have a Twitter account, that didn’t stop people from sending him the viral moment.
 
But Murphy isn’t complaining. 
 
“It’s a great shot, it is,” he continued. “It’s a great shot. I’m not mad at it … If it’s going to happen, you might as well enjoy it.”

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