As you might have heard, rising Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. swung at a very juicy 3-0 pitch on Monday night. With the bases loaded. While his team had a large lead. One grand slam later, the Rangers decided this was unfair and threw a brushback pitch at the next Padre. You see, the unwritten rules say you should go easy on the other team if you have a big lead. I guess Tatis was supposed to walk or something. Last I heard, of course, no lead is ever big enough – ask any Mets fan about this – and also it’s the pitcher’s job to get the batter out, not the batter’s job to lay off meatball pitches.
So I am all for Tatis tearing the hide from the ball. And also for challenging “unwritten rules” that really don’t belong at the major league level. This isn’t peewee ball. There is no, at least so far, a mercy rule. PS: last night Tatis stole third with no outs, against flaunting the unwritten rules. I do believe he is having some fun. Which lord knows we all need.
Elsewhere…
- It’s now the Reds who are waiting for COVID tests. Sigh
- At long last, the NBA playoffs, and the Lakers and Bucks both lost their first games. (Anyone else digging the “March Madness” style of four games a day on weekdays?)
- The NHL playoffs are also moving along nicely. Watch out, once more, for the Golden Knights
- Barca stinks up the joint, fires Setien, hires Koeman maybe keeps Messi happy
- I hear the NFL and some of the D-I schools plan to play football. I will believe it when I see it.
As ever, all sports subjects welcome.