San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado is no stranger to controversy. There is a reason Fernando Tatis Jr. absolutely despises him.
And it’s the same reason so many other MLB stars haven’t been shy about calling Machado out both publicly and privately.
In some ways – Machado almost thrives off the backlash.
This week Machado showed up to Padres Spring Training wearing an interesting shirt. It had a three-word message on it that immediately caught people’s eye.
Padres superstar Manny Machado repping a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt at Spring Training. pic.twitter.com/9l451zRBy0
— KUSI News (@KUSINews) March 24, 2022
“Let’s Go Brandon,” of course, is a phrase that has become synonymous with insulting current President Joe Biden.
Reactions to Machado’s move poured in immediately:
Love to see it https://t.co/AsjL9zrZRt
— Born Free Skye (@Skye_1008) March 25, 2022
Shut up and hit the baseball! Remember no politics in sports, THEY say! https://t.co/zH7qAqcxjU
— YAboiKy (@yaboiky_) March 25, 2022
Nice Shirt!
Lol at the snowflakes melting down over this https://t.co/D0JktLpuue
— ✧⊱★⊰✧ (@omgness4real) March 25, 2022
what happened to keeping politics out of sports? https://t.co/WxiKwr2iLF
— Koby // half_sac (@koby_kilpatrick) March 25, 2022
Even Machado knows what’s up! #LetsGoBrandon #slamdiego https://t.co/lpBDgDzfIS
— Craig G (@CGNiner9) March 25, 2022
Let’s keep politics out of sports…
Where is the outrage on Fox News
Where is the shut up and K https://t.co/FkGkRPi94r— Coach Cory (@Coach_CoryC) March 25, 2022
As much as folks are tired of politics in sports, it seems like the combination isn’t going away any time soon.
Between Danica Patrick’s take on Lia Thomas’ NCAA Championship run and LeBron James participating in a $27 million effort to allow felons to vote – it feels like it’s always just one thing after another.
Kenny Pickett’s girl has now weighed in on his tiny, tiny hands. https://t.co/Qe71kOB6n8
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 24, 2022
Machado’s latest exploits are just another example of that.
Will we ever truly be able to get to a point again where we can disassociate our national pastimes from the political polarization that has infected America?
Time will tell.
Related: How Seahawks Truly Feel About Signing Colin Kaepernick
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
