Jurickson Profar Taunting The Crowd After a HR Robbery, Flaherty vs. Machado, Dodger Fans Throwing Baseballs Onto The Field, Tatis Blowing Kisses To The Fans - The Padres-Dodgers NLDS Is Full Of Hate
The Dodgers and Padres going to war in the NLDS is everything baseball should be...well minus fans throwing baseballs at players. Can't do that. Pretty much everything else that unfolded in Game 2 was great for the sport though. Pure hate. All the bad blood between both the players and fans. We're nearing the good stuff from the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry from the mid 2000s and it's beautiful.
All the fireworks kicked off when Jurickson Profar went full villain mode and taunted Dodger fans after robbing Mookie Betts of a first inning homer. This was awesome. Weak effort from the fans there by the way. Once he dives in there it's all up for grabs.
Couldn't tell he had it in his glove until he started jumping up and down with a smile on his face. FOX got fooled themselves and threw up the homer graphic. No bomb for Mookie, instead he's now 0 for his last 23 in the postseason dating back to last year.
A little later on the players started to get into it. This came after Tatis was plunked earlier in the inning.
Flaherty dropping a good ol' "sit the fuck down motherfucker." Great to say after a strikeout against someone you don't like, but probably better suited for when you're pitching your ass off and winning. To each their own. I'm here for the emotion.
I don't think these two will be exchanging Christmas cards in a few months. Neither will Dodger fans with anyone who supports the city of San Diego. A little later in the game they started throwing shit on the field because why wouldn't a scumbag fanbase do that? Baseballs were launched in the direction of players. Security swarmed the field and delayed the game while it all got sorted out. I genuinely can't imagine how you could get so caught up in the moment as a fan that you do this. This happened between the Yankees and Guardians a few years ago and it was terrible then too. Don't do this,
Tatis was loving it. He lives for this shit.
Now in the middle of all that chaos, in a playoff game in a hostile environment, there's two ways to move forward as a team. Either you let that shit get to you and become distracted, or you harness that hate and respond with your own play to shut the fans up. Machado rallied his team in the dugout to set everyone straight and keep them focused.
Their response? A fucking explosion. Merrill, Xander, Higgy, and Tatis again. It was an avalanche.
How about tying the MLB record for team homers in a postseason game? Your thoughts Fernando?
Tatis has turned into a postseason monster. This year alone he's a ridiculous 9 for 14 with three homers and five RBI. That's good for a 2.151 OPS. In his career in October he's been nearly unstoppable. The man craves the bright lights.
Oh, do you want another fun stat? Kyle Higashioka now has as many career postseason homers (4) as Mookie Betts. Thankfully for Mookie he's got two rings to fall back on, but he has not been great when it counts of late.
This series is great. The Padres needed to punch back in Game 2 and they opted to land a right hook that knocked the Dodgers on their ass. The home field now switches to San Diego where a hungry, loud fanbase will be waiting, that's of course assuming Dodger fans themselves don't invade. I'm predicting fan fights. Multiple. They may just fight in the stands the entire game. Maybe we get one on the field too? LA's pitching is a mess and it doesn't get better from here on out. Walker Buehler and Landon Knack will be tapped to keep the Dodgers' season alive. Also have to factor in how banged up Freddie Freeman is and how he had to come out of this game early on with ankle discomfort. Shohei might have to do this himself. I can't wait for Game 3.
