Statues can be made from many different materials: stone, bronze, concrete, wood and so on. The idea is to use something durable and enduring, something befitting an enduring monument that often serves as a pride.
In other words, Ton would be a bad choice. Hence the expression “feet of clay,” denoting a weak foundation, a flaw that could bring down a person of honor. Which brings us to Fernando Tatis Jr.
When the San Diego Padres signed Tatis to a 14-year, $340 million deal in February 2021, he matched the boldness of their investment with an equally bold statement, “I want the statue.” Tatis then led the National League home runs and nearly won a Most Valuable Player award, all before his 23rd birthday.
If it seemed too good to be true, maybe it was. Major League Baseball suspended Tatis for 80 games on Friday, ending his season before it began and casting doubt on the wisdom of the Padres’ dedication to him. Tatis tested positive for clostebol, a performance-enhancing drug.
The suspension ends a troubling season for Tatis, who underwent wrist surgery in March after suffering injuries from falling off his motorcycle during the offseason – more than once, he conceded. He began a rehabilitation stint last week, but his four games with Class AA San Antonio will make up his overall accomplishment for 2022.
The Padres had 48 games left on their schedule at the time of the announcement, meaning Tatis’ suspension will bleed well into 2023. The absence of so many games on his ledger will be a testament to the ruthlessness of a celebrated player as a prominent part of baseball’s future.
“It turns out I accidentally took a medication to treat tinea that contained clostebol,” Tatis said in a statement from the MLB Players’ Association. “I should have used the resources at my disposal to make sure there were no prohibited substances in what I was consuming. I didn’t succeed.”
He apologized to the Padres, the league and the fans, and while pointing out that he had never failed a drug test before, he added that he had “no apologies for my mistake”. Tatis said he initially appealed the suspension but dropped it because his negligence caused the outcome.
“I am completely devastated,” the statement said.
So is the Padres, whose general manager AJ Preller told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the team needs to rebuild confidence in its cornerstone: “I think over the course of the last six or seven months, that’s been something we can’t really have.”
Preller made the most spectacular move of the August 2 trading deadline, acquiring superstar outfielder Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals. Soto, who cannot be a free agent until after the 2024 season, managed a summer stretch that also included first baseman Josh Bell, seamer Josh Hader and supply man Brandon Drury. When the Padres won Soto’s debut in defeat – helped by Drury, who joined the ‘Slam Diego’ club with a Grand Slam – the sold-out crowd might have felt an extra elation: all this and soon Tatis too!
However, reality trickled into the Padres’ next series when they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers, which ended with the Dodgers’ emphatic three-game sweep.
The Padres still held one of the NL’s three wildcard berths when MLB announced Tatis’ suspension, but it was a loose grip: just a game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the loss column. And this is a team that lost a playoff berth 11-30 last season, with Tatis scoring .245 in those last 41 games.
As the season wrapped up in September, Tatis got into a duke fight with veteran third baseman Manny Machado, who yelled and verbally abused him. “It’s not about you,” Machado scolded Tatis after Tatis sulked at a third strike being declared. “You’re going to play baseball,” he added.
Still, Tatis finished the season with impressive stats: a .282 average, a .975 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, and 99 runs scored and 97 runs basked to go with his 42 home runs. He finished third in voting for the NLMVP, behind Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, the winner, and Soto, the runner-up.
Tatis followed, apparently overestimating his motorcycling skills. But he still had a chance to make the year special to become the latest addition to a strengthened roster chasing the first championship in franchise history.
The two Padres players honored with statues at Petco Park, Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman, failed to deliver. Nor could another Hall of Famer, Dave Winfield, the first player to be pictured wearing a Padres cap on his plaque. Tatis has time to win a title, but his legacy — the statue, the day at Cooperstown, the validity of his achievements — may never turn out the way he expected.