Fernando Tatis propped himself up outside the home clubhouse at Petco Park. Days earlier, his son phoned him from Seattle with news that he had, indeed, played himself onto the Padres’ opening day roster. A half-dozen or so family members were also waiting for El Niño to emerge following a two-hit debut. Most were wearing Tatis’ No. 23 jerseys that had already been spotted throughout Petco Park, but the elder former ballplayer had not yet made that investment.
“I’m going to have to get one of those,” he said with a smile last March.
A wise choice, to be sure.