Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández was feeling good after his team beat the San Diego Padres in the NLDS. Maybe too good.
More than two months after the Dodgers’ victory in Game 5 of the NLDS, Hernandez revealed that the F-bomb he dropped live on television earned him a fine and almost a lot more.
The fun came in his postgame interview with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. When asked what was different about this year’s Dodgers team, which had just reached the National League Championship Series for the first time in three years, Hernandez asked if they were live and then said bluntly: ” The fact that we don’t give a damn,” with a mischievous smile.
Interestingly, the uncensored video of the response is still on Fox Sports’ MLB account.
In an interview with “The Shop,” LeBron James’ talk show, Hernandez revealed that the league was not happy with his language. He was supposedly facing a suspension, which would have kept him out of Game 1 of the NLCS, but he avoided that part of the punishment thanks to the efforts of his agent at Wasserman and his representatives at the MLB Players Association.
However, he received a fine and apologized, admitting it was half-hearted.
Hernandez’s full response:
“They fined me for that. They were going to give me an even bigger fine and give me a one-game suspension, but having a good agent and a good players union was helpful. They got rid of the suspension and I was able to reduce the fine a little bit, which which was good. I had to apologize, which you could say 50/50 in terms of honesty.
“What I answered was my honest answer from the bottom of my heart and I didn’t think there was any other way to describe the team. I felt like I had already taken some time to think about my answer, because I don’t want to answer that way. But when I asked him if we were live, he said yes and I thought, “There has to be some kind of delay.” There was no delay and I was on live TV cursing and there was a lot of criticism for that.
Hernández’s availability in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series paid off for the Dodgers, as he went 2-for-4 with two runs in a 9-0 rout. And then, of course, they won the World Series.
Hernandez, who has always been highly valued by the Dodgers for his defensive versatility, had a great performance in that stretch with a .294/.357/.451 postseason performance at the plate. Now a free agent, he remains a possibility to return to the team amid a busy offseason.