We need to talk about Fernando Tatis.
And no, I’m not talking about the superstar San Diego shortstop that has squandered the first year of a $340 million dollar contract by crashing a motorcycle and testing positive for a low-level steroid.
I’m talking about the OG Fernando Tatis. The one that’s out here trying to defend his son from legitimate criticism by trying to blame Major League Baseball for the mistake of a very grown, and very rich man.
Fernando Tatis Sr, who was in the big leagues during the steroid-driven home run race, and the subsequent years of testing and suspensions, should know as well as anybody that there’s no room for error or excuses when it comes to banned substances.
Tatis Sr, who curiously had a career average of one home run per every 17 at bats when he was Mark McGwire’s teammate, and one home run every 37 at bats when he wasn’t Mark McGwire’s teammate, said that baseball has cost itself millions of fans by upholding the letter of the law in his son’s suspension.
Millions of fans? Million with an S? The Padres have only made the playoffs once since Fernando Sr. retired, and in that time averaged just over two million tickets sold per season. They’ve already outsold last year without Fernando Jr taking the field, does Fernando Sr really think the stadium will just be empty now that his son continues to not show up for a brand new reason of his own doing?
Look Fernando- maybe your son got a bad haircut, maybe he got ringworm, maybe he got a prescription for the completely wrong drug, which would be extremely easy to prove, and maybe he applied that wrong drug to his ringworm. Even if all that happened in the way that Fernando Sr claims it did, absolutely nothing changes about the result. Fernando Tatis Jr. tested positive for a banned steroid and the penalty is clear.
And we’re not even going to get into pitching legend Pedro Martinez blaming the Padres for being unaware that their young superstar shortstop was allegedly spraying ‘roids into his fungal rash. The Padres are paying Tatis Jr. to not do stupid things. The money should be enough. Beyond that, if it was Tatis Jr’s intention to cheat, why would the Padres ever be in the know?
At the end of the day, baseball fans, especially the modern ones, are more than willing to forgive and forget when a player owns up to trying to gain an edge in coming back from an injury. What they aren’t good at is having to digest that the young superstar on their team is too stupid to use the correct medication while coming back from an off-the-field injury, and too immature to do anything without a team-appointed babysitter.
At the end of the day, it isn’t the MLB doing irreparable harm to Fernado Tatis Jr.
It’s his own father, and people like Pedro Martinez doing the damage.
And there isn’t any type of prescription spray that can clear up this type of damage.
Let that sink in.
