Rosenthal: The ‘Sinister Sling’ and the multitudes of Manny Machado

Yep, I said it, right there on national TV.

During Fox Sports’ Sunday night broadcast of Game 2 of the Division Series, I spoke about an emotional meeting Manny Machado led in the San Diego Padres’ dugout. The huddle followed a tumultuous seventh inning in which fans at Dodger Stadium threw baseballs and beer cans onto the field.

“Manny Machado has taken a lot of criticism in his career,” I said. “For being too laid-back. For occasionally playing dirty. For being the kind of player you don’t want to build around. Well, what we saw in that dugout tonight, in that meeting, that was the most visible and powerful act of leadership in his career. He’s 32 now. Clearly a different guy.”

Ah, if I only knew then what we learned after the game and during Monday’s workout at Petco Park. That Machado threw a ball toward the Dodgers dugout. That it struck the netting in front of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. That the throw was forceful enough for the carom to carry out toward home plate.

Two things can be true. Machado indeed showed leadership in the dugout, draping his arm around catcher Kyle Higashioka and imploring his teammates to maintain their focus. But his punkish response to Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty hitting Fernando Tatis Jr. with a 91.7 mph sinker, well, that was Manny being Manny. Again.

Manny Machado talks with the umpires during the sixth inning of Sunday’s contentious Game 2 of the NLDS between the Padres and Dodgers. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Flaherty almost certainly did not hit Tatis intentionally leading off the sixth inning, not with the Dodgers trailing, 3-1. Yet, Machado all but volunteered after the game that his act was retaliatory. When informed that the Dodgers thought he threw the ball hard, he told The Athletic, “Did Flaherty throw the ball hard at our guy?”

Perhaps only Machado could explain how the two acts equate. Yet, livid as the Dodgers were —  and are — not even they believe Machado was actually trying to hit Roberts. While Roberts called the third baseman’s act “unsettling and disrespectful,” several Dodgers people said they thought Machado was trying to send their team a message, not cause injury.

Still, Machado’s stunt was inappropriate, and not particularly smart. The Athletic viewed video of the incident that is clearer and separate from what is currently in the public realm.  Third base umpire Tripp Gibson approached Machado moments after his Sinister Sling. If Gibson had ejected Machado, it would have been an overreaction. But if the benches had cleared, Machado almost certainly would have been tossed for being an instigator. Tossed from a postseason game with his team leading by three runs but trailing in the series.

The Dodgers submitted video for Major League Baseball to review, but no one should hold their breath waiting for disciplinary action. Machado’s throw did not hit anyone, giving him plausible deniability. The bigger question, perhaps, is whether the Dodgers will retaliate against Machado in Game 3 on Tuesday night. At the Padres’ home park. Where fans agitated by the indefensible conduct of some of their Dodgers counterparts Sunday night are certain to be in a frenzy. Good luck with that.

At the moment, one thing seems clear: The Padres aren’t just a heck of a team. They’re also inside the Dodgers’ heads. Teams often take on the personalities of their leaders. As the Padres’ leader, Machado is entirely willing to engage in conduct some might consider unbecoming, and he’s unapologetic about it. The best way for the Dodgers to deal with him is to beat him. And that will be easier said than done.

Machado is far from the Padres’ only irritant. Fernando Tatis Jr. is a smiling, dancing peacock. Jurickson Profar is the kid who pulls the fire alarm at school and then asks, “Who, me?”

Yet this is a far more cohesive group than it was last season, a fully functional unit instead of a mere collection of stars. And Machado, difficult as this might be for some to believe, has demonstrated growth from the player he once was.

This is a player who in 2014 triggered a benches-clearing incident when he objected to a hard tag by Josh Donaldson. This is a player who in 2016 charged the mound and threw punches at the Royals’ Yordano Ventura. This is a player who in 2017 caused the injury that brought on the end of Dustin Pedroia’s career with a hard slide that some perceived as dirty.

And let’s not forget Machado’s heel turn with the Dodgers in the 2018 National League Championship Series, when he twice slid questionably into Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia in Game 3 and clipped first baseman Jesús Aguilar running out a grounder in Game 4. He also generated controversy during that series for explaining his failure to run out a grounder by telling me in an interview on FS1, “Obviously, I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the line and slide to first base … that’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am.”

I wrote a column for The Athletic the night before the interview, including Machado’s full comments, in which he took responsibility for his inconsistent effort and vowed to improve. None of his shenanigans hurt him when he became a free agent that offseason. The Padres signed him to a 10-year, $300 million contract. In Feb. 2023, they awarded him an 11-year, $350 million extension, replacing the final six seasons of his previous deal.

In my column on the “Johnny Hustle” interview, I concluded by saying of Machado, “If he wants the noise to stop, he needs to give people less reason to question him. If he wants true appreciation for his greatness, he should create attention only with his performance.”

Six years later, those words still ring true. Machado in some ways is more mature. Padres right-hander Yu Darvish singles out Machado and Joe Musgrove for being especially supportive while he missed nearly two months this season attending to a personal matter. Even Sunday night, Machado barely reacted when Flaherty cursed him after striking him out with two on in the sixth, and later praised Flaherty for winning the battle. The old Machado might have charged the mound.

All that constitutes progress, even if the initial bar was low. The team meeting in the dugout offered further testament that Machado is the emotional center of the team. But the Sinister Sling demonstrated again that Machado remains all too eager to play the villain.

It was Manny being Manny. Again.

(Top photo of Manny Machado giving his dugout speech on Sunday: Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images)