The Chicago White Sox scored a season-high 16 runs Monday at Target Field.
It was the final run that dominated Tuesday’s pregame discussion.
Designated hitter Yermín Mercedes hit a solo home run in the ninth inning on a 47 mph, 3-0 pitch from Minnesota Twins utility player Willians Astudillo.
“I have never seen that 47, but I’m always prepared for it,” Mercedes said Tuesday.
On the Twins broadcast, the announcers weren’t particularly pleased with the swing on a 3-0 count with the game well out of reach. The Sox won 16-4. It led to a big discussion on social media all afternoon about baseball’s “unwritten” rules.
Sox manager Tony La Russa called the swing a “big mistake” because Mercedes missed a take sign.
“Just about the time the guy started making the pitch, I took several steps from the dugout onto the field, yelling, ‘Take, take, take,’ ” La Russa said. “Just the way he was set up, it looked to me like he was going to swing. And the whole time he was running the bases, I’m out there. I was upset because that’s not a time to swing 3-0. I happened to look over there, and I know the Twins knew that I was upset.
“(Third base coach) Joe (McEwing) had given the take sign. I just think that Yermín was locked in. He and Astudillo, they know each other from different competitions. He was locked in: ‘I’ve got to get him, I’ve got to get him.’ But he missed a 3-0 (take) sign with that kind of lead. That’s just sportsmanship and respect for the game and respect for your opponent.
“He made a mistake. So there’ll be a consequence that he has to endure here within our family. But it won’t happen again. Because Joe will be on the lookout and I will be too, and we’ll go running in front of the pitcher if we have to. He’s not going to do that again.”
La Russa said he had a conversation with Mercedes and also offered an apology to the Twins.
“I sent a message over there, it’s not acceptable,” La Russa said. “And I’m certain that it will not happen again with Yermín.
“They know that I was really upset with it. It shouldn’t have happened. I hope it’s enough.”
The Twins appeared to retaliate in the seventh inning Tuesday when reliever Tyler Duffey threw a pitch behind Mercedes’ legs. Duffey and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli were ejected.
Mercedes, who met with reporters before La Russa did, said of the “unwritten” rules and having fun: “I’m Yermín. I can’t be another person. If I change it, everything is going to change it.”
Mercedes leads the majors with a .364 batting average entering Tuesday. He said he won’t change his approach if a position player is pitching.
“I’m going to stay focused every time, it doesn’t matter who’s on the mound,” he said. “Just stay focused at home plate.”
La Russa called the situation a “learning experience.”
“I heard he said something like, ‘I play my game,’ ” La Russa said. “No he doesn’t. He plays the game of major-league baseball, respects the game, respects the opponents. And he’s got to respect the signs. When he gets the take sign, he takes. He’s in (the starting lineup Tuesday), so the consequence is not sitting him down. It’s a learning experience.”
La Russa said he never wants to “give the other team an excuse to take a shot at one of our players.”
“We were taught from day one: Respect the game, respect the competition, respect your opponent,” La Russa said. “And the way you respect is you both go out and play as hard and good as you can. And if someday, the other team is having a tough day and the decision is final, then you don’t steal, you don’t hit 3-0. When is that? That’s every manager’s decision.
“In the old days, by the way, Sparky (Anderson) and those guys, if they had a five-run lead in the eighth inning, where (with) a grand slam you’ve still got the lead, they would stop running. And the game has changed, there’s more offense now. You play in ballparks now that are more accommodating to crooked numbers, so you can’t follow that rule as much.”
La Russa reiterated that the issue was the missed take sign and that the scenario would have been different on a 3-1 count.
“You can’t take at-bats away from these guys,” La Russa said. “Seven times out of 10 they fail, they hit .300. I could not tell a guy to just hit a ground ball. I wouldn’t do that. Over the years, I’ve been on the wrong side of (a blowout). I don’t begrudge them hitting line drives or if a home run has been hit.”
La Russa recalled the April 19 game in Boston in which Mercedes and infielder/outfielder Danny Mendick pitched for the Sox in the seventh and eighth innings.
“If you could do it differently (Monday) and we didn’t have to play positions (afterward), I’d send three pitchers up there just to stand there and tap the ball someplace,” La Russa said. “And we’ve all been on the other side of that unhappy situation where you’re getting beat up.
“And once you’re on the other side, you know what the other side feels like. There’s sportsmanship, respect for the game, respect for your opponent that’s real and has to be the philosophy, and we follow it. I’ve been taught it. The fact that he is a rookie that was excited helps explain why he just was clueless. But now he’s got a clue.”
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