Players defend Fernando Tatis Jr. against unwritten rules | Baseball On The Bird
Hannah Keyser explains why anyone who was mad at Fernando Tatis Jr.’s grand slam has their priorities all mixed up. And she has the pitcher tweets to prove it.
Video Transcript
- Apparently, the self evident greatness of Fernando Tatis Jr's Monday night grand slam against the Rangers caused a bit of a stir, and some dissension over whether or not it's a good idea to hit grand slams whenever you can. Padres were already up by seven runs in the eighth inning when Tatis swung at a 3 0 count to put the game away. Rangers manager, understandably, Chris Woodward, was not thrilled. And specifically cited the unwritten rules of baseball that don't actually say this, because they're not written down anywhere. But apparently implied that you're not supposed to do that.
And then Padres manager, Jayce Tingler, also took the position that really hot hitters should settle for walking in a run because that'll make the opposing pitcher feel less embarrassed. Even Tatis apologized under duress.
You know who hasn't heard of this unwritten rule, which, while still unclear on its precise parameters, seems tailor made to strip the game of its most vital moments? Opposing pitchers. Red Sox pitcher, Eduardo Rodriguez, tweeted 3-0 counts rule, side eye, side eye. You just have to pitch better if you don't want that to happen. I never see that rule, and I take myself with an example because I'm the king, guy with a crown, guy with a crown, of 3-0 counts, shruggy man, shruggy man.
- It's like my mom reading Twitter.
- Amir Garrett with a simple, I don't follow unwritten rules, ellipsis. Colin McHugh provided a whole tutorial on how pitchers should prepare for aggressive hitters. Swinging in a 3-0 count should not be against any rules, no matter the score. Before a game, I would always look up to see what percentage guys swings 3-0. When it's over 20%, it means I just can't groove one. The guys who will never just "give you a pitch" at the plate are the toughest ADs. Good point.
And Pirates pitcher, Joe Musgrove, offered up his thoughts. Quote, you can't sit in the dugout. You can't take your mask off. You're not allowed to high five. You can't sit next to anyone. No spitting, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, an extra dot. All rules that suck. Guys that will hack it in any count are the most dangerous ones. And I don't know what he's trying to say. He might just be anti rules altogether, which is not the message of this particular segment by any means. But I think he ends up on Tatis' side. Which just goes to show you, even opposing pitchers think that that unwritten rule is dumb.
-It's dumb.
