Fernando Tatis Jr.’s Dodger Stadium home run plaque to be reinstalled after damage

LOS ANGELES — Midway through a series that included four tense games, eight hit batters and a benches-clearing melee in the finale, baseball’s most visible rivalry gained an additional layer of intrigue.

Wednesday, a Reddit user pointed out that a plaque commemorating San Diego Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr.’s Sept. 30, 2021 home run off the top of Dodger Stadium’s left-field pavilion had been removed. Meanwhile, two nearby plaques honoring similarly prodigious homers by retired sluggers Mark McGwire and Mike Piazza remained in place.

A night later, shortly before Tatis was plunked by a Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher for the third time in 10 days, an explanation emerged. If any nefarious activity had occurred, the Dodgers did not appear to be at direct fault. A team spokesperson said Tatis’ plaque — which the Dodgers installed years earlier near where his 467-foot drive soared out of the ballpark — had been damaged and that an unblemished version would take its place by Los Angeles’ next homestand. It was unknown how the damage occurred, the spokesperson said.

According to the team’s records, Tatis’ 3-year-old home run remains the sixth and last clout to fly out of Dodger Stadium. The others belong to Giancarlo Stanton (who launched his home run an estimated 475 feet), McGwire (483 feet), Piazza (478 feet) and Willie Stargell (470 feet and 506 feet, 6 inches). McGwire’s 1999 blast came only weeks after then-St. Louis Cardinals teammate Fernando Tatis Sr. set a yet-to-be-replicated major-league record by swatting two grand slams in one inning at Dodger Stadium.

Tatis Jr., who was born months earlier, has regularly starred at the site of his father’s most singular achievement. Including the two home runs he hit in Game 2 of the 2024 National League Division Series, the younger Tatis’ 14 homers at Dodger Stadium are more than he has hit in any building other than Petco Park. In 38 regular-season games in Chavez Ravine, he has batted .297 with a .579 slugging percentage.

Yet, on Wednesday, Tatis said it did not rank among his favorite venues. He had been asked about the home crowd’s cheering the previous night when he took a fastball in his back.

“Everybody knows Dodgers fans,” he said. “It’s part of the circus.”

When asked about playing at Dodger Stadium, Tatis paused and chuckled.

“I just don’t like it,” he said. “I don’t like it at all.”

A night later, as he again met with reporters inside the visiting clubhouse, Tatis was not laughing. The ninth inning of a sweep-preventing win had seen Dodgers pitcher Jack Little, making his major-league debut, hit Tatis in the right wrist with a 93 mph fastball. Initial X-rays were negative, and Tatis said he did not believe the pitch was intentional, but the outfielder described those results as “kind of inconclusive.” Tatis, who said he felt “not good,” is scheduled to undergo more imaging on Friday. “It’s just not fun,” Tatis said of the Dodgers’ tendency to pitch him inside. “Why go to the field to deal with this?”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who joined Padres manager Mike Shildt at the center of a benches-clearing confrontation, said after the game there was “no intent” behind Little’s pitch. Still, hard feelings figure to linger into the teams’ next meeting in August. Padres third baseman Manny Machado said late Thursday that the Dodgers “gotta pray” that Tatis’ scheduled CT scan would come back negative.

While the Padres host the Kansas City Royals at Petco Park on Friday, the Dodgers will face the Washington Nationals in a homestand-ending series. The subsequent series at Dodger Stadium will begin July 1 when the Dodgers welcome the Chicago White Sox. By then, Tatis could have a new or repaired plaque to show for his often-productive and sometimes-painful visits to one of his least favorite ballparks.

(Top photo: Dennis Lin / The Athletic)

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