Fernando Tatis Jr. upset keepers of the so-called “unwritten rules” of baseball with his actions on Monday night.
Tatis Jr. slugged two home runs and drove in the final seven runs of his San Diego Padres’ 14-4 win over the Texas Rangers. His first home run came in the top of the seventh inning to give the Padres a 10-3 lead. An inning later, he was up with the bases loaded and swung on a 3-0 pitch, driving a second ball out of the park to put his team up 14-3.
FERNANDO TATIS JR. GRAND SLAM!!!!!!!!!
That gives him the @MLB home run lead!@Padres | @tatis_jr | #FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/KiB72YXcMl
— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) August 18, 2020
You would think that hitting two home runs and producing 7 RBIs would result in a player being celebrated, but that wasn’t the case here. Instead, Padres manager Jayce Tingler indicated Tatis Jr. was given a sign to take the 3-0 pitch rather than swing at it and make it look like they were trying to run up the score.
Tingler said Tatis is young, free spirit, focused & “that’s the last thing we’ll ever take away.” But said the look he gave Tatis after grand slam was to be “a learning experience.” Said a lot of guys have green light 3-0 but w/ comfortable lead, not trying to run up score.
— Annie Heilbrunn (@annieheilbrunn) August 18, 2020
The Padres can have a reason for being slightly irritated that Tatis did not follow the sign he was given. However, the Rangers were upset because they felt Tatis Jr. broke an unwritten rule about running up the score late.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward issued a complaint after the game about Tatis’ actions.
… It's kind of the way we were all raised in the game, but like I said, the norms are all being challenged on a daily basis. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not right. I don't think we liked it as a group."
(End)
— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) August 18, 2020
Unless the Rangers were willing to conceded the game when it was 10-3, their manager and players should not be complaining about someone on the other team trying to increase a lead. Woodward should especially be keeping his mouth shut when he presided over this nonsense last year.
