What has happened to San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr and what he did stunned the world of his fans.
And Tatis has lots and lots of them, kids and adults. They say the bigger they are the harder and farther they fall.
A lot of baseball experts called him the most talented player in the game, even though he’s only 23 years and didn’t play a lot of games in his first couple of years, hasn’t played at all this season and now won’t and won’t play the first 20 to 30 games next season.
And now he has been suspended for 80 games for using a banned performance enhancement drug, he’s on the bench, the bad boy one.
But the punishment of being suspended for that long, is not going to be as hard as it will be for him to earn back the trust of Padres management, his fellow teammates and of course all his fans. Coupled with his earlier infraction over his wrist fracture, which he kept secret for a while last year, with now admitting that he used a banned substance has shattered that trust.
The good news is that his fans, teammates and Padres management are willing to forgive him, and want him back.
But as the Padres GM suggested after the suspension, things are going to be different now, that the trust thing has to be dealt with.
For the parents of all those kids who adore Tatis, their job now will be to explain it to their sons and daughters. And that’s something this young and immature superstar should spend a lot of time thinking about as he works to regain their trust as well.
(Photo Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images