Unwritten rules are like buzzwords and fashion: they die slow deaths. It takes generations. Rangers manager Chris Woodward is 44 years old and broke into the big leagues in 1999. Padres shortstop Fernando Tatís Jr. is 21 and broke into the big leagues in 2019.
The intersection of how they learned to play baseball made for controversy Monday. Tatís swung at a 3-and-0 cookie with the bases loaded with his team up by seven runs in the eighth inning. Woodward grimaced at the audacity of it.
Neither one is wrong. I loved Woodward’s response: “The norms are being challenged on a daily basis, so–just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not right.