Fansided

Twins announcers cry over unwritten rules after White Sox slugger Yermin Mercedes hits HR off Willians Astudillo

By Patrick Schmidt

Chicago White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes (73) follows through on a swing for a two-run single during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Chicago White Sox designated hitter Yermin Mercedes (73) follows through on a swing for a two-run single during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Willians Astudillo is not going to win the CY Young Award this year, or any year after serving up a bomb to White Sox breakout slugger Yermin Mercedes that had Twins announcers up in arms.

The Chicago White Sox bludgeoned the Minnesota Twins on Monday night to put an exclamation mark on their AL Central rivals and send a message they are the team to beat in the division.

Not only did Nick Madrigal his first career home run and Danny Mendick his a grand slam, but Yermin Mercedes hit a home run in the ninth inning that still hasn’t landed yet.

It did come off a position player, Willians Astudillo, and it did come on a 46 MPH pitch, so it’s not like he took Shane Bieber deep. In fact, this was the slowest pitch that resulted in a home run since MLB began tracking this data.

But the home run really rankled the Twins announcers who referenced the unwritten rules of baseball and why this was a travesty. In other words, old men yell at cloud type stuff.

Mercedes smoked the 3-0 pitch with two outs in the ninth with the White Sox leading 15-4, but that 16th run was some added insurance, just in case the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

Twins announcers lose it with White Sox breaking baseball’s unwritten rules

Clearly, this upset the Twins announcers to no end who probably had all sorts of heartburn and couldn’t sleep last night. How in the world is this type of shenanigans allowed to go on in baseball?!

I tried searching for the unwritten rules of baseball at my local bookstore and couldn’t find it. I even looked on Amazon and couldn’t see anything. Seems to me the unwritten rules of baseball is just a bunch of bunk old dudes like to reference to preserve the “way things should be” and not attached to reality.

If the Twins didn’t want Mercedes to go deep, they simply should have thrown a better pitch. They should not have fallen behind 15-4 and used a position player to take the mound. If having a 5-foot-9, 225-pound catcher work as a pitcher is a part of the rules, surely taking him deep is allowed.

Having said all that, don’t be surprised if the Twins pitchers throw at Mercedes at some point in the rest of the series to get some revenge, because, of course, that’s a part of baseball we need to uphold.

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