Yep, I mentioned it, proper there on nationwide TV.
Throughout Fox Sports activities’ Sunday evening broadcast of Sport 2 of the Division Sequence, I spoke about an emotional assembly Manny Machado led within the San Diego Padres’ dugout. The huddle adopted a tumultuous seventh inning through which followers at Dodger Stadium threw baseballs and beer cans onto the sector.
“Manny Machado has taken loads of criticism in his profession,” I mentioned. “For being too laid-back. For often enjoying soiled. For being the form of participant you don’t need to construct round. Effectively, what we noticed in that dugout tonight, in that assembly, that was probably the most seen and highly effective act of management in his profession. He’s 32 now. Clearly a special man.”
Ah, if I solely knew then what we discovered after the sport and through Monday’s exercise at Petco Park. That Machado threw a ball towards the Dodgers dugout. That it struck the netting in entrance of Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. That the throw was forceful sufficient for the carom to hold out towards residence plate.
Two issues may be true. Machado certainly confirmed management within the dugout, draping his arm round catcher Kyle Higashioka and imploring his teammates to take care of their focus. However his punkish response to Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. with a 91.7 mph sinker, effectively, that was Manny being Manny. Once more.
Manny Machado talks with the umpires throughout the sixth inning of Sunday’s contentious Sport 2 of the NLDS between the Padres and Dodgers. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Pictures)
Flaherty virtually definitely didn’t hit Tatis deliberately main off the sixth inning, not with the Dodgers trailing, 3-1. But, Machado all however volunteered after the sport that his act was retaliatory. When knowledgeable that the Dodgers thought he threw the ball arduous, he instructed The Athletic, “Did Flaherty throw the ball arduous at our man?”
Maybe solely Machado might clarify how the 2 acts equate. But, furious because the Dodgers had been — and are — not even they consider Machado was really making an attempt to hit Roberts. Whereas Roberts referred to as the third baseman’s act “unsettling and disrespectful,” a number of Dodgers folks mentioned they thought Machado was making an attempt to ship their group a message, not trigger harm.
Nonetheless, Machado’s stunt was inappropriate, and never notably sensible. Third base umpire Tripp Gibson approached Machado moments after his Sinister Sling. If Gibson had ejected Machado, it could have been an overreaction. But when the benches had cleared, Machado virtually definitely would have been tossed for being an instigator. Tossed from a postseason sport along with his group main by three runs however trailing within the collection.
The Dodgers submitted video for Main League Baseball to evaluation, however nobody ought to maintain their breath ready for disciplinary motion. Machado’s throw didn’t hit anybody, giving him believable deniability. The larger query, maybe, is whether or not the Dodgers will retaliate towards Machado in Sport 3 on Tuesday evening. On the Padres’ residence park. The place followers agitated by the indefensible conduct of a few of their Dodgers counterparts Sunday evening are sure to be in a frenzy. Good luck with that.
For the time being, one factor appears clear: The Padres aren’t only a heck of a group. They’re additionally contained in the Dodgers’ heads. Groups typically tackle the personalities of their leaders. Because the Padres’ chief, Machado is solely keen to have interaction in conduct some may contemplate unbecoming, and he’s unapologetic about it. One of the best ways for the Dodgers to cope with him is to beat him. And that will likely be simpler mentioned than achieved.
Machado is way from the Padres’ solely irritant. Fernando Tatis Jr. is a smiling, dancing peacock. Jurickson Profar is the child who pulls the fireplace alarm at college after which asks, “Who, me?”
But it is a much more cohesive group than it was final season, a completely purposeful unit as an alternative of a mere assortment of stars. And Machado, tough as this could be for some to consider, has demonstrated progress from the participant he as soon as was.
It is a participant who in 2014 triggered a benches-clearing incident when he objected to a tough tag by Josh Donaldson. It is a participant who in 2016 charged the mound and threw punches on the Royals’ Yordano Ventura. It is a participant who in 2017 triggered the harm that introduced on the top of Dustin Pedroia’s profession with a tough slide that some perceived as soiled.
And let’s not neglect Machado’s heel flip with the Dodgers within the 2018 Nationwide League Championship Sequence, when he twice slid questionably into Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia in Sport 3 and clipped first baseman Jesús Aguilar operating out a grounder in Sport 4. He additionally generated controversy throughout that collection for explaining his failure to expire a grounder by telling me in an interview on FS1, “Clearly, I’m not going to alter, I’m not the kind of participant that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the road and slide to first base … that’s simply not my persona, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I’m.”
I wrote a column for The Athletic the evening earlier than the interview, together with Machado’s full feedback, through which he took duty for his inconsistent effort and vowed to enhance. None of his shenanigans harm him when he turned a free agent that offseason. The Padres signed him to a 10-year, $300 million contract. In Feb. 2023, they awarded him an 11-year, $350 million extension, changing the ultimate six seasons of his earlier deal.
In my column on the “Johnny Hustle” interview, I concluded by saying of Machado, “If he needs the noise to cease, he wants to provide folks much less motive to query him. If he needs true appreciation for his greatness, he ought to create consideration solely along with his efficiency.”
Six years later, these phrases nonetheless ring true. Machado in some methods is extra mature. Padres right-hander Yu Darvish singles out Machado and Joe Musgrove for being particularly supportive whereas he missed almost two months this season attending to a private matter. Even Sunday evening, Machado barely reacted when Flaherty cursed him after hanging him out with two on within the sixth, and later praised Flaherty for profitable the battle. The previous Machado may need charged the mound.
All that constitutes progress, even when the preliminary bar was low. The group assembly within the dugout supplied additional testomony that Machado is the emotional heart of the group. However the Sinister Sling demonstrated once more that Machado stays all too wanting to play the villain.
It was Manny being Manny. Once more.
(High picture ofManny Machado giving his dugout speech on Sunday: Daniel Shirey / MLB Pictures by way of Getty Pictures)
