A bizarre scene unfolded in the dugout during the fifth inning of the San Diego Padres’ showdown against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.
The incident occurred after Fernando Tatis Jr. slammed his helmet following a strikeout. At that point, Manny Machado began to go off. He could be heard screaming “it’s not about you” and “you go play baseball,” to the point where teammates had to come out and separate them.
As it turns out, this blow-up is a long time coming. Apparently Machado had been growing wary of Tatis’ antics for some time now.
Machado screams some tough love at Tatís, a breakdown pic.twitter.com/eQr87FC6bL
— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) September 20, 2021
According to Kevin Acee of The San Diego Tribune, this blow-up was the byproduct of a lot of frustration.
“Multiple people inside the organization said the situation with Tatis has been building for weeks, as the 22-year-old has grown increasingly frustrated with the team’s postseason chances slipping away and his being unable to lift the Padres on his shoulders,” Acee wrote. “He was talked to by a veteran player about his brooding on at least one occasion before Saturday.”
Tatis is a very talented player. He is hitting .285 with 39 home runs and 92 RBI’s this year, which are stats that speak for themselves. But petulance isn’t a good look on anyone. This also isn’t his first brush with controversy, which is telling in itself.
That’s one way to do it. https://t.co/QbFS5uYpUn
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 20, 2021
As things currently stand, the Padres are 2-8 in their last 10 outings and sit 3.5 games behind the Cardinals for the Wild Card slot. That’s an understandably frustrating situation – but bad attitudes don’t help.
Machado has his own issues. He is routinely called out by other MLB stars for his terrible way of handling situations. In this case, however, his frustration seems pretty justified.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
