The Padres couldn’t even enjoy a champagne shower without hearing about it the next morning. Less than 24 hours after clinching a playoff spot, the conversation on social media wasn’t about celebrating October baseball for the fourth time in six years — it was about the lineup card.
Padres fans, still buzzed off the celebration themselves, woke up to see Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jackson Merrill nowhere to be found on Tuesday’s sheet. The reaction? Panic. Memes. Overreactions. The dreaded phrase “punting the division” started circulating before the first pitch was even thrown.
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It didn’t matter that San Diego had clinched, that champagne corks had flown, or that tequila had been passed around in the clubhouse like a pre-planned parade.