Yankees: Michael Kay calls out Astros hypocrisy in Fernando Tatis Jr. talk

Yankees announcer Michael Kay thinks what MLB makes you apologize for is crazy. Sorry, Fernando Tatis Jr.

Yankees fans have been labeled sticks in the mud for years, regarding how they adapt to changes in the game of baseball.

No matter how much fun it seems the younger sect of fans is having, there’s a certain elderly subset that wants nothing to do with stubble, chains, and fog machines in the locker room.

But those who are all about the decorum and those who want to unbutton a few jersey buttons can agree on one central premise: You’d better respect the game.

In our humble opinion, swinging at a 3-0 pitch in a game you lead by seven runs seems like a pretty normal cornerstone of the game of baseball. Cheating using in-the-moment live video and sign relaying? Nah, that’s not what this sport was founded upon.

So it’s kind of ridiculous, as Michael Kay pointed out on Tuesday’s Yankees broadcast, that Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. was forced to apologize for ripping an “unwritten rules” grand slam by his own manager, and all the fraudulent Houston Astros have had to do thus far is read a trite apology off a slip of paper, then disappear.

As Kay put it, “Somebody made Tatis apologize for hitting a grand slam… and the Astros didn’t apologize! Kind of an upside-down world.”

Tatis Jr.’s action appears to be the antithesis of what the Astros did.

Houston cared so little about the game’s integrity that they decided to rip it apart at the seams. Tatis Jr. cared so much about it that he couldn’t sacrifice a single strike to the pitcher in the name of faux-sportsmanship.

Of course seven runs isn’t “safe” — have you seen the Padres bullpen? Tatis Jr. was given a cookie, and he drilled said cookie into the seats. You don’t want him to do that? Don’t offer him a handshake deal in the middle of the heart of battle.

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticMLB/status/1295699975331090433

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, certainly a serious baseball man himself, delivered the exact right take on the Tatis situation, telling Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, “It’s pretty hard to hit a grand slam. So whatever count you wanna try to hit one, go for it.”

No, the Padres slugger will not be punished by MLB, but his normal in-game action has already led to 36 hours of shame and discourse. Have the Astros even come close to being as wholesome as Tatis was, with his tail between his legs? Even once?

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