Bruce Jenkins: Protocols that seemed proper years ago now look out of touch
You can’t keep a blank page down. Even during a pandemic, with its sinister implications forever at the forefront, we’ll find heavy doses of the game we’ve always known. Over the past two days, conversation raged over the Unwritten Rules.
Between Fernando Tatis’ insistence on entertainment and Shaun Anderson crossing the lines of retaliation protocol, things got pretty lively in the Giants’ division.
Tuesday was a textbook day for manager Gabe Kapler’s crew in Anaheim. Beleaguered veterans Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford peppered the yard with drives that were absolutely crushed. Even with Kapler able to rest his best three relievers’ arms, five other pitchers came out of the bullpen to keep the Angels at bay in an 82 victory.
Of course, these being the 2020 Giants, a game couldn’t pass without an unsettling development. The tension blessedly passed, and it might amount to nothing in the end, but Mike Trout
had a few things on his mind as he left the park.
Back in the fifth inning, Evan Longoria was hit in the back by a Jacob Barnes fastball with one out, Donovan Solano on first base and the Giants leading 41. It seemed like an accidental misfire, and the Giants didn’t seem at all concerned by it. But when Anderson took the mound for the ninth inning, he threw a fastball straight at Trout’s head. Then he threw another one behind Trout’s head, each pitch capable of dire consequence without Trout’s alert reactions.
Trout isn’t called baseball’s best player on talent alone. There’s a marvelous sense of quiet to his game, a master work built on tightly compacted power. He always seems to be exactly the same guy, in triumph or exasperation. After the second of Anderson’s pitches, he did emote a trace of “what the hell was that” but didn’t give any indication of chargethemound anger.
“That’s the true definition of a true pro,” Mike Krukow said on the telecast as Trout eventually drew a walk.
Both Krukow and Duane Kuiper made it clear, though, that Anderson’s pitch sequence was not cool. Go ahead and drill the guy in the ribs, if you must, but don’t throw at somebody’s head, ever, under any circumstances. “The ninth inning has been an issue” for the Giants, Kuiper said in a classic understatement, “so let’s just get on the plane. Let’s go.”
The umpires stopped play after Anderson’s second scary missile, but they did not issue a warning. Perhaps it’s wellknown around the game that Anderson has struggled trying to pitch inside, often unable to control pitches meant to prevent hitters from getting too comfortable in the box.
Angels manager Joe Maddon didn’t sound offended, saying, “That’s just a young man (Anderson) that’s not ready to be here, that’s all that is. There was no intent. This kid has had command issues. Like a lot of young pitchers, they don’t know where their fastball is going.”
Who knows if it applies to Anderson’s approach, but ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe made an interesting observation recently about the late Don Drysdale, the storied Dodgers pitcher known to make a lot of hitters uncomfortable in the 1960s. “He told me years ago that there are times when you need to hit somebody,” Sutcliffe said. “But you need to make sure you aim that pitch around the waist, so if your adrenaline’s burning and it gets away from you, it only comes in around the shoulder. If you release the ball any higher and it gets away, you’re talking about the head.”
In any case, we’re about to get the latest example of a schedule only this bizarre season can produce: The Giants and Angels play again at Oracle Park on Wednesday night in the opener of a twogame series.
Tatis, the San Diego shortstop, is a bit like Trout in that his skills are so otherworldly, nobody wants to face him in any ballpark. He’s a 21yearold phenom who loves to display his unbridled joy for the game, and he’s a godsend that way as the game slowly eliminates the Unwritten Rules about showmanship.
Simply put: In the “old days,” don’t celebrate about anything. Be humble 100% of the time. In today’s game, by all means, celebrate the hell out of your accomplishments. As long as you’re not directly insulting the opposition, it’s fun for the fans and absolutely harmless. If you’re Tatis, don’t ever stop attacking the game with such magnificent panache.
But, wait — time for those empty pages again.
In the eighth inning of the PadresRangers game Monday night, San Diego leading 103, the count went to 30 on Tatis. For decades, it was considered a breach of the Unwritten Rules to swing at that pitch. You’ve got the big lead, no need to rub it in. Sure enough, manager Jayce Tingler ordered the “take” sign from the dugout. But Tatis missed the sign, swung away and belted a grand slam into the night.
A bunch of tired, oldschool nonsense took center stage as Texas reliever Ian Gibaut threw a pitch behind Manny Machado’s head (earning a muchdeserved three-game suspension) and both managers scolded Tatis for having so much fun. Tingler called it “a learning opportunity” after the game and talked Tatis into making some conciliatory remarks.
They should all know something: It’s a new day. Tatis will be a vital part of baseball’s return to the public’s good graces, if that ever happens, as a worldclass talent with flair. He’s not backing off a grandslam pitch because of how people felt in 1974. I’d like to think he did see the sign and simply ignored it as an especially bad idea.
It was nice, also, to find Cincinnati pitcher Trevor Bauer addressing Tatis on Twitter. “Keep bringing energy and flash to baseball and making it fun,” wrote Bauer, who has very strict rules on how baseball should conduct its business. “The only thing you did wrong was apologize.”