The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres rivalry got physical on Thursday after Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch late in the game. The Padres were up 5-0 in the top of the 9th when reliever Jack Little hit Tatis in the elbow.
Padres manager Mike Shildt came out of the dugout immediately, very upset with the Dodgers and started yelling at his counterpart, Dave Roberts. Despite the best efforts of the home plate umpire, Roberts and Shildt met face to face, with Roberts bumping Shildt as players got in the way and separated them.
Roberts and Shildt then continued to yell at each other for literal minutes. There was gesticulating and pointing and it sure seemed like they both wanted to settle their disagreement in the parking lot, but with both benches and bullpens emptied, they didn’t have the chance.
Benches clearing after somebody gets hit by a pitch is not that unusual, but the managers going after each other and it actually getting physical is fairly rare. Considering these guys are the ones who are in charge and they're supposed to be the most adult adults in the stadium, you'd think they would be allowed to sort things out themselves if they really wanted. Perhaps the unwritten rules should be ammended to allow mangers to fight if they feel it's necessary.
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait nearly two months until these teams meet again to see what happens next.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dodgers-Padres Managers Got Physical, Caused a Long Delay After Fernando Tatis HBP.
