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Ballpark Digest Broadcaster Chat for August 18, 2020

Ballpark Digest squareJesse Goldberg-StrasslerMick Gillispie and Kevin Reichard discuss the unwritten rules of baseball violated by Fernando Tatis Jr., why a mercy rule won’t happen, and the emergence of phenoms this unusual season on this week’s Ballpark Digest Broadcaster Chat.

In this week’s chat:

  • Mick discusses his background as a sideline reporter for University of Alabama football games, leading to a discussion of live, non-baseball TV/radio appearances, including the dreaded morning-show appearances
  • Today’s big topic: the unwritten rules of baseball, following the reaction to Fernando Tatis Jr.’s grand-slam homer on a 3-0 pitch with his Padres up by seven runs
  • Mick speaks out against the unwritten rules, saying that if the pitcher grooves one, he deserves to give up the homer, and that there’s nothing wrong about scoring as many runs as possible
  • Kevin understands the unwritten rule and understands why Rangers manager Chris Woodward was upset, but doesn’t understand why the Padres front office gave Tatis the cold shoulder and why his manager, Jayce Tingler, was upset
  • Jesse says that baseball needs to get rid of some unwritten rules if it wants to appeal to younger fans, and points out that there’s a disconnect between the reaction of Padres management and the celebration of the grand slam and Tatis’s rising fame on social media
  • Jesse and Mick point out there is one circumstance where the Padres management should be concerned: the worry that Tatis could be hurt down the line by a retaliatory pitch
  • The final consensus: for the most part, the unwritten rules need to go
  • Should there is a mercy rule in baseball? It makes some sense, but it won’t happen: winning teams will want to beat up bullpens to gain an advantage during a series, and a mercy rule gives an advantage to losing teams
  • One advantage to such an unusual season: we are seeing a lot more rookie phenoms getting their chance, like Dylan Carlson and Nate Pearson
  • Today’s Baseball Thesaurus term: sno cone catch or ice cream catch, where a player makes a catch and you can see half the ball past the tip of the glove netting. This leads to a discussion of basket catches and the equivalent of sno cone catches in football.
  • Reasons why Mick should have a street named for him if the Tennessee Smokies move to a new Knoxville ballpark

Jesse Goldberg-Strassler is the Voice of the Lansing Lugnuts and the author of The Baseball Thesaurus and The Football Thesaurus from August PublicationsMick Gillispie is the Voice of the Tennessee Smokies and a spring-training Voice of the Chicago Cubs. Kevin Reichard is publisher at August Publications and Ballpark Digest.

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