By Noah Hickman
It seems like it was only yesterday when I was watching last season's matchup between the San Diego Padres and the Texas Rangers.
The game itself was lopsided as the Padres won the game 14-4, but one moment stood out to baseball fans and sports journalists.
It was a 10-3 game at the top of the eighth inning and the Padres shortstop, Fernando Tatís Jr. was at bat on a 3-0 count with the bases loaded.
The fourth pitch that Tatís saw from Rangers relief pitcher Juan Nicasio was well into the strike zone and Tatís decided he should do what the Padres had been doing all season -- hit a grand slam.
The lead had been extended to 14-3 and the Padres ended up winning, but managers from both teams did not approve of what had happened.
"I didn't like it, personally," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "You're up by seven in the eighth inning; it's typically not a good time to swing 3-0. It's kind of the way we were all raised in the game. But, like I said, the norms are being challenged on a daily basis. So just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not right. I don't think we liked it as a group."
Padres manager Jayce Tingler said that the grand slam would be a learning experience for Tatís.
"He's a young, free spirit and focus and all those things," Tingler said. "It's the last thing we'll ever take away. It's a learning opportunity and that's it. He'll grow from it."
This puts into perspective why the reputation of the MLB has never been that strong.
The MLB has all these unwritten rules yet an endless amount of scandals in which the rules have been broken.
Now to the real reason I wrote this story.
On Monday, a designated hitter/catcher for the Chicago White Sox by the name of Yermín Mercedes decided to make the same unwritten offense as Tatís.
The White Sox were up on the Minnesota Twins 15-4 at the top of the ninth inning and the game was all but over.
The Twins' pitchers were getting clobbered all night by the White Sox; so much so that they had to put in a catcher for an inning since all the relievers were exceedingly tired.
Willians Astudillo, nicknamed La Tortuga, pitched at the top of the ninth inning and his third batter faced was Mercedes.
La Tortuga found himself down on a 3-0 count to Mercedes after retiring the first two batters.
The fourth pitch was a 47 mph eephus that arced itself into the top-left part of the strike zone -- Mercedes demolished the ball to center-left field for a solo homer.
That would end up being the only run and hit allowed by La Tortuga but tensions only flared after the 16-4 victory by the Sox.
The very next day, both Twins reliever Tyler Duffey and manager Rocco Baldelli were ejected in the seventh inning due to Duffey intentionally hitting Mercedes on a 93 mph sinker.
This was most likely a (pathetic) response to Mercedes hitting a home run last night on a 3-0 count in a blowout game.
The Twins wound up winning the game 5-4 and Mercedes being hit by a pitch was not even the worst part of it.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa turned on Mercedes and said he will be punished since he broke the unwritten rule of thou shalt not swing on a 3-0 pitch when up by a lot.
"He made a mistake," La Russa said. "There will be a consequence that he has to endure here within our family."
Of course when Mercedes gets intentionally hit, this is what La Russa has to say.
"It wasn't obvious to me. The guy threw a sinker. It didn't look good," La Russa said. So, I wasn't suspicious. I'm suspicious if somebody throws at somebody's head. I don't have a problem with how the Twins handled that."
I won't crucify people who disagree with me and think that Duffey didn't mean to hit Mercedes with a pitch intentionally, but the fact that controversy was brewing and tensions were flaring -- that should be reason for concern.
The fact that La Russa showed zero concern and basically said "meh" is cold-blooded and the height of selfishness. He cares more about the unwritten rules than he does his players.
It doesn't matter whether somebody is getting hit by a baseball in the head or any other body part.
When a 93 mph baseball is coming right at you, there's a risk of getting severely injured.
The Twins showed bitterness and an inability to let go of what happened on Monday.
La Russa, on the other hand, seems to have lost his locker room.
This madness happened because a divisive unwritten rule had been violated.
MLB's unwritten rules send a holier than thou message but as I mentioned above, the league itself has had mountains of scandals which invalidates the 'respect for the game' and 'sportsmanship' arguments.
If a professional baseball team is offended that a baseball player swung his bat on a 3-0 count and they are down by many runs, there is always the option of forfeiting the game.
I mean seriously, if the game is already over, why even continue playing if there is a risk of getting your feelings hurt?
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