Tatis Jr. celebrated the dance with his first career goodbye bang and his iconic home run

When Los Angeles Angel terminator Kenley Jansen's carter collided with the bat, the one-handed swing was a natural move. He stopped to gaze as the baseball streaked across the night sky of San Diego and eventually crashed into the Padres cowshed. The Petko Park stadium descended into a frenzy. He high-fived Jackson Merrill as he bounced to first base, vented his passion with his trademark pause dance in front of third base, and was eventually surrounded by his teammates at home plate.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has been waiting for that moment since being traded to the Padres as a 17-year-old rookie nine years ago.

His first career goodbye home run did not disappoint.

Tatis's two-point strike capped off Tuesday night's thrilling 6-4 clash between the Padres and the Angels, marking an early milestone in what was destined to become his signature season.

"In the big leagues, it's one of the top moments," Tatis said after the game, "and it's always stuck in the back of my mind. ”

Tied 4-4 at the bottom of the ninth inning, Elias Díaz opened the offensive with a guarantee to send Tatis to the strike zone. Having faced Kenley Jansen six times before, Tatis has not tasted a hit. But the opening match of the series on Monday allowed him to find his striking rhythm.

Sure enough, Jensen's thigh-height inside corner cut ball turned out to be a fatal mistake. Tatis relentlessly blasted the ball 430 feet (Statcast data) for a muzzle velocity of 109.2 mph.

"It's crazy," exclaimed Manny Machado, "absolutely crazy." ”

On the opening day of 2019, Tatis and Machado made their Padres debut on the same day. Their arrival marked a turning point in the team's fortunes. This perennial team has since become a regular in the playoffs.

San Diego embraced two superstars. The superstar moments at the East Village are always particularly impressive. There's no shortage of highlights — he hit two goodbyes last September.

But the gap on the first goodbye home run in a major league career wasn't filled until Tuesday night.

'It's great to be part of it and be there,' Machado said, "and we all know how he's going to be this year and we knew there was a chance. ”

It was Machado who relied on accurate judgment in the eighth inning to take advantage of the rush to run back to home plate to equalize the score. A brief loss of the bullpen in the seventh inning had left the Padres behind.

"The barn brothers have been carrying us for over a month," Tatis said of the cowshed performance, "and they've been rock solid. Baseball is a human sport and one of the toughest games in the world. No matter what, we will always stand by them. ”

On Tuesday night, Tatis made good on his promise.

The two-time All-Star, a three-time MVP voter, is having the best season of his career. In the opening 40 games of the season, he handed in a .316 batting average, a .963 attack index, 8 base stolen and 11 home runs, and the right field defense was even more leaky. According to Baseball Reference, Tatis currently leads the Nations League in Victory Contribution (WAR).

"Tatis played at an MVP level," Padres coach Mike Shildt commented, "and he's proving it every night." To put it simply, when you have players like that in your squad, you think, 'How can the opponent beat us?' And he can destroy you in every way possible on the baseball field." ”

On Tuesday night, he finished the race with a long-range gun. Measured by Tattis's high standards, it has actually experienced a low ebb recently. After April's hot form, the batting average for the first 10 games in May was just .231.

During the struggle, Tati confessed that the ups and downs of his state had drained some of his energy. After the previous two shots, he didn't make the trademark three-base step. He admits that he has not been able to find his best form at many levels recently, and although he did not give details, he stressed that the players are also mortal.

"It's the ups and downs," Tatis said, "and there are always ups and downs. Sometimes you feel tired and procrastinating, and sometimes you're too busy to achieve perfection. We fight day in and day out, and we can't always be 100 percent. ”

Because of this, Tuesday's goodbye bombardment is even more cathartic. This time, the pause before third base was particularly sonorous — the pause was longer, and the jump was higher.