Are you effing kidding me? I mean, we knew this kinda shit was coming, but I really didn’t think it would be this level of borderline parody.
As background, breakout, out-of-nowhere, fun hitter Yermin Mercedes is having the season of a lifetime, and yesterday, with the White Sox routing the Twins, he decided to swing on a 3-0 pitch from position player Willians Astudillo. Mercedes crushed it. People complained about the count or the situation or some other stupid thing:
3-0 bomb from Yermin Mercedes off of a position player!
Announcer: “I don’t like it. Up 15-4. I don’t like it”
Guess who does like it? Yermin. Yermin’s wallet. Yermin’s family who gets food put on their table by him. Fans of the Sox. Fans of baseball. pic.twitter.com/01zXiIE6dH
— Ben Verlander (@Verly32) May 18, 2021
So it’s fine for one team to bail on the game and send a position player out there to pitch, but it’s not OK for the other team to try to hit the ball? I mean, what, he takes that pitch, and then gets another meatball and instead crushes 3-1? Or does he have to take that one, too?
Whatever, though. It was just the Twins announcers, so I was going to ignore it.
But then MERCEDES’ OWN MANAGER THREW HIM UNDER THE BUS just now:
Tony La Russa was 'upset' that Yermin Mercedes hit a home run on a 3-0 count last night in a blowout win.
"He made a mistake. There will be a consequence he has to endure here within our family."
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 18, 2021
La Russa said he gave the take sign to Mercedes on the 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.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 18, 2021
La Russa says he apologized to the Twins and that he sent the message that that was unacceptable.
"He said he was playing his game. He wasn't. He's playing the game of Major League Baseball."
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) May 18, 2021
This is just embarrassing. It is, like I said, the kind of thing people would PARODY about “old school” “legit” “hall of famer baseball person” Tony La Russa. But he’s out there ripping his own player for hitting a home run instead of just sitting there taking strikes for no reason? And saying that player is going to face CONSEQUENCES from his OWN TEAM for it? What the hell is the matter with you?!
For his part, Mercedes has the right attitude, and I hope he sticks with it:
Yermin Mercedes isn't here for the unwritten rules of baseball.
"I'm going to play like that. I'm Yermin. I can't be another person because if I change it, everything is going to change. … We're just having fun. It's baseball." pic.twitter.com/WGf8ZyL2TN
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) May 18, 2021
Oh, and a bonus WTF just dropped from the La Russa call:
That was definitely a wild zoom with Tony. He wouldn't reveal the punishment (it's not playing time) then joked:
“I could try and spank him but he’s too big and strong.”
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 18, 2021
Without words, man. I am without words.