Discussing the Mercedes-Twins HR debate
Who doesn¡¯t love a good old-school/new-school argument, like the doozy that popped up on Tuesday?
To recap: In the ninth inning of Monday¡¯s 16-4 blowout loss to the White Sox, the Twins called on utility man Willians Astudillo to close it out. Mainly because he¡¯s not a pitcher, Astudillo wasn¡¯t throwing hard, and he wasn¡¯t throwing strikes.
Sox rookie Yerm¨ªn Mercedes ¡°worked¡± the count to 3-0 and, disregarding a take sign from his manager, swung at a 47.1 mph Eephus pitch. The ball traveled 429 feet for a home run.
White Sox manager Tony La Russa took issue with Mercedes ignoring the take sign and expressed his unhappiness to the media in a pregame zoom.
A group of MLB.com reporters gathered to discuss.
Alyson Footer, editor/moderator: Merkin, you tweeted this after hearing La Russa speak: ¡°La Russa said he gave the take sign to Mercedes on a 3-0 pitch. He made a mistake. There¡¯s a consequence he¡¯ll have to endure within the family, per La Russa. ¡®He¡¯s not going to do that again,¡¯ La Russa said. He said it¡¯s more about sportsmanship and respect.¡±
My take: Count me as one that hopes Mercedes does do it again. And again, and again. How does the group feel about Mercedes going rogue and swinging away, and La Russa¡¯s reaction?
Jesse Sanchez, national reporter: I loved it all. Hilarious and so much fun. Tortuga vs. Yerm¨ªnator. Nickname vs. nickname. Position player on the mound and 400-foot homer. What¡¯s not to like? My kids were late to school today because I showed them video of the homer in the school parking lot before class. La Russa's reaction was ... expected.
Scott Merkin, White Sox beat reporter: I disagree with Tony's thoughts on the matter aside from one fact: If the take sign was on, and Mercedes knew it, then I understand where some issue and a possible team fine or something like that would arise.
But that's more a team rule issue. Not an unwritten rule vs. fun of the game sort of deal.
Nathalie Alonso, reporter/producer, LasMayores.com: I thought it was a fun moment between two fun players. I think everyone needs to remember that that's the point of baseball. To have fun. It's entertainment. So the fact that we have these discussions every time some archaic unwritten rule is broken is just downright silly to me.
Merkin: I also think if Tony was going to make this all public, he probably shouldn't have been as cryptic about what the team sanction was going to be. It's easy for him to say "It was a fine. It's done. He's playing. It's over."
Do-Hyoung Park, Twins beat reporter: On the Twins media side, at least, all of us were stunned when this blew up in any manner other than the, ¡°Hey, look, an exciting player having an amazing season homered off this fun player that everyone has fun watching who is just lobbing hilarious pitches up there.¡±
Granted, the White Sox were up 30 runs at that point so we were all writing and only half-watching, but we thought all of this was such a non-issue and remain both amused and bemused that this has blown up in the way it has. Maybe that¡¯s because we¡¯ve got a young beat.
Sanchez: Hey now young Do. Leave age out of this. I think we all understand who Tony is and how he thinks. I'm not surprised he lost it. Also, has anybody seen my walker?
Alonso: Probably not a good idea to potentially bench the player who leads the Major Leagues in hitting, but I'm not a manager.
Merkin: I don't think the idea of a punishment was for disrespecting the game. The punishment was for having the take sign on and he swung. I mean, there are team rules probably set out back in good ol¡¯ Glendale, Ariz., at Camelback Ranch.
Park: I agree with Merk in the sense that Mercedes swinging through a take sign is something that a Major League manager can legitimately take issue over, and I think that¡¯s unfortunately drifted into this weird societal overlap we have of the old-school-versus-new-school debate and La Russa¡¯s lukewarm reception by the baseball world as a whole, too, which is leading to all this hoopla.
Footer: Here¡¯s Mercedes¡¯ reaction: ¡°I¡¯m going to play like that. I can¡¯t be another person. Everything was good. Some of the teammates talked to me -- just be relaxed. Just do you. We are good.¡±
Round of applause for Yerm¨ªn. ¡°Just do you.¡± Hitting a 47.1 mph ¡°fastball¡± out of the park is entertaining, hilarious, and good for ball. Let¡¯s also point out that in the ninth inning of a 15-4 game, perhaps there aren¡¯t a lot of people finding reasons to still be watching? A position player pitching is always fun to watch, and why can¡¯t a hitter swing at a pitch? Isn¡¯t that what we¡¯re all here to see?
Sanchez: Tony definitely has rules and things he believes in. Once upon a time, former Oakland pitcher Jose Rijo told me La Russa asked him to hit George Bell with a pitch because Bell was torching the A's. Rijo said he refused because "George was my childhood neighbor and taught me how to drive." Tony was not happy when Bell got a base hit.
Alonso: I'm not the first one to point this out, but you can argue that throwing in a position player to pitch isn't good sportsmanship either. So I think at that point, the rules are off.
Sanchez: What Nathalie said. Exactly.
Merkin: By the way, how strong do you have to be to hit a 47.1 mph fastball 429 feet? It's like watching that traveling softball team that used to come to Guaranteed Rate Field and hit pitches 550 feet.
Footer: That was exactly my thought, Merk. I want to know if someone can hit a ball out of the park that's coming in at 47 mph, and I guess now we know.
Do, what was the reaction from the Twins?
Park: [Manager]Rocco Baldelli was rather diplomatic, saying he was ¡°surprised¡± to see Mercedes swinging in that situation and leaving it at that, while acknowledging that there were some hard feelings for both himself and in the Twins¡¯ clubhouse -- but what else do you expect from a group massively underperforming expectations that just had another indignity added to a home blowout loss against the team they¡¯re supposed to be competing with for a division title? I think that context is pretty important here, too.
Footer: Would you say they weren¡¯t that offended by it, then?
Park: No, the Twins were definitely disgruntled to an extent, and there were definitely discussions and some hard feelings in the clubhouse. For what it¡¯s worth, I get the sense it was more about a possible perception that Mercedes might have watched the shot and taken his time around the bases and less about swinging 3-0, which is the issue on La Russa¡¯s side. But again, you can¡¯t ignore the context here. I think in a different situation, in a different game, this isn¡¯t an issue or getting blown up -- and they¡¯re already not going out of their way to publicly blow this up in the way that it has. The Twins are 13-26, they have no answers, and they were getting blown out and booed loudly at home while facing the team with which they were supposed to be neck-and-neck for the division. They were in no real mood for humor at that point.
Footer: We¡¯ve had a lot of conversations among our reporting team about the experience of Latino players and how their perspective is often different than American players, and managers. This sort of plays into that theory, right? Approaches, style of play, and the overall way we view a baseball game can be very different.
Sanchez: Nobody would even blink an eye if this happened in a Winter League game in Latin America or the Caribbean. Everyone would be doubled over in laughter and high fives. Under different circumstances, I could see Tortuga tipping his hat to Yerm¨ªnator or the guys joking around with each other.
Merkin: Tortuga did not tip his hat last night, according to Yerm¨ªn.
Alonso: Latin American baseball is fun because of how entertaining it is. It's exciting. The guys are visibly having fun. Their clubhouse celebrations are off the charts. And I'm so happy to see the D-backs postgame celebrations go in that direction. I think we need to lean into that overall.
Sanchez: I think back to how much fun Adri¨¢n Beltr¨¦ had every time he faced F¨¦lix Hern¨¢ndez. More recently, ¡°Frederick¡± Freeman and Anthony Rizzo have a blast when they face each other. Sure, there must be a level of sportsmanship and respect in the game, but this game is also about fun.
Merkin: Rizzo should be mic'd up every single game.
Tim Anderson is one of the most enjoyable players I've watched in the 20 years I've covered the team. He has developed into one of the game's best players but never has lost the fun of competition.
So, here's my bottom-line question: Is there a reason for La Russa to take umbrage if he gave a sign, Mercedes saw it and disregarded it? Nothing else but that specific idea.
Whether you like him or not, or agree with him or not, Tony La Russa is the White Sox manager.
Footer: I can understand Tony being a little peeved, but this was not a competitive game, there was no strategy needed, and maybe he could have just sat this one out.
Alonso: I'm torn about that, because the reason for the sign is probably the archaic rule.
Merkin: That's a fair point.
Park: I think this is getting blown up into a bigger discussion of fun and showmanship when I really don¡¯t think that¡¯s at all what it is. Maybe that played into this a certain extent, but it is, at its core, an issue about Mercedes swinging through a take sign and La Russa airing that publicly. The Twins haven¡¯t played into this public discussion at all other than an old-school broadcaster opining on air, which, sure. But it¡¯s a frustrated clubhouse on a hair trigger that¡¯s massively underperforming and in no mood for levity right now.
Sanchez: Here's the thing, we will never know if that's what really happened. It's not worth it to Yerm¨ªnator to dispute it.
Alonso: But like Scott said earlier, if La Russa had a problem with him ignoring the sign, fine. Take him aside and tell him in the clubhouse. But don't throw him under the bus publicly. I don't think Yerm¨ªn deserves that. He's stepped up big time for this team that's without Eloy Jim¨¦nez and Luis Robert.
I couldn't help but compare this to how Luis Rojas handled the whole Francisco Lindor/Jeff McNeil situation with the Mets. He defused the situation rather than throw fuel on the fire. He didn't condone their fantastical story but he didn't publicly rip them either. Because at the end of the day, what should matter to the manager is HIS relationship with his players, not some archaic rule.
Sanchez: Maybe Yerm¨ªnator will be the spark the Twins needed. Maybe it will light a fire under all of us olds in the press box, Do.
Merkin: The man has a burger named after him in Chicago.
Footer: Yerm¨ªnator, with cheese?
Sanchez: Yerm¨ªnator, well done.
In the White Sox-Twins game Tuesday night, Minnesota pitcher Tyler Duffey threw behind?Yerm¨ªn?Mercedes?and?was ejected from the game. Manager Rocco Baldelli was also ejected after taking issue with the umpires¡¯ decision to oust Duffey. Postgame, the White Sox and manager Tony La Russa commented on Duffey's intent with the pitch.