The San Diego Padres are the most exciting team in baseball. This may come as a surprise, seeing that the franchise has not made the playoffs in over 14 years. Although the team is stacked with young stars like Manny Machado and Chris Paddack, second year player Fernando Tatis has stolen the show in more ways than one. “El Nino” or “The Kid” bursted onto the scene last year with an impressive rookie campaign and has continued this season with MVP like numbers. Tatis has become a national treasure not only because of his fast-paced style of play, but because of his youthful attitude and swagger on and off the field.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Tatis’ style are his chains. Both Tatis and Ronald Acuna have played a large role in reintroducing the chain into everyday MLB attire, and attribute their decision to their Latin American roots. Classy is not the correct word to describe these pieces of jewelry, but flashy and fun definitely are. The chains fit Tatis’ play style perfectly as well. Last month, Tatis sparked outrage across the league when he hit a grand slam on a 3-0 count while winning by 8. Some players claimed Tatis has broken an “unwritten rule of baseball”, where others defended Tatis, arguing that his spark is just what the league needs.
Although Tatis’ chain definitely pops, the cool part about his look is that the rest of his attire is not as loud. When on the field, Tatis takes a comfortable approach to fashion, with subtle customizations that could easily be missed with a quick glance. The legendary brown jerseys that the padres wear allow Tatis to pull off just about any look. Although Brown is typically an unusual primary color for a sports team, I think the padres pull it off better than anyone.
The Padres enter the 2020 MLB playoff bubble with hopes of a world series ring, and to be honest, I think they have the nation behind them. Since the Phillies are eliminated from contention I can’t help but respect the flash that Tatis and the Padres bring to the league. Fans of eliminated teams will be rooting for Tatis to get his first ring, so he can pair it with his gold chains.
This is really interesting to me because it is evident even in our generation how this look has influenced people, mainly baseball players. Wearing chains is a huge trend now and I think it started with baseball players. It’s crazy how the people and things we look up to influence our daily lives like that.
It’s awesome how in baseball, athletes have some liberty to wear various accessories/clothes to personally express themselves (versus other sports like swimming and running where clothing/design options are limited because of the possibility of drag). This subtle personalization of their outfits reminds viewers that underneath the athletic uniform is a human being with ideologies, personalities, and wishes. I also love how you ended the article – let’s hope he can get a matching set of golden accessories : D