La Vida Baseball

Unwritten Rules are Made to be Broken

By Jesse Menendez

Fernando Tatis Jr. tosses his bat during batting practice
Fernando Tatis Jr. tosses his bat during batting practice / Jean Fruth / La Vida Baseball

When baseball restarted in July, after a COVID-19 induced hiatus, I was sure everyone would be so ecstatic with the game's return that MLB's infamous "unwritten rules" wouldn't rear their ugly head. I mean, who cares how the game is being played, right? All we had for the past four months was classic games. Pardon the pun but those get old. Well, I was wrong.

On Monday , San Diego Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a grand slam that unearthed the tired old topic of MLB's "unwritten rules". In the eighth inning the Padres were up 10-3 over The Rangers, when Tatis Jr. went oppo and smashed a three-run homer to put the Padres well ahead. So whats the problem? Well, to start, the problem lies in the notion that the game should be played a particular way.

What Tatis did was considered by some as unsportsmanlike like. He broke one of MLB's many "unwritten rules". What do you think?

Jennifer Mercedes, Julie Alexandria and Ozzie Guillén Jr. unpacked the controversial granny on La Vida Baseball Live.
Watch below.