A’s pro-Hendriks newspaper ad includes Australian swear word

Profanity in baseball? You bet your (expletive) there is.

Most of it is deliberate, like when Willie Mays hit his first major league home run, clear out of the Polo Grounds, and Giants manager Leo Durocher said, “I’ve never seen a (expletive) ball get out of a (expletive) park so (expletive) fast in my (expletive) life.”

Occasionally the profanity is inadvertent, maybe even unwitting.

Like this week when the A’s set about saluting pitcher Liam Hendriks, a nine-year veteran who made his first All-Star game appearance on Tuesday. It was a memorable inning for the Perth, Australia native — he struck out the side and served up a home run. Hey, no one’s perfect. The A’s decided to acknowledge his big moment, as well as his stellar season — he leads the majors with an 0.92 ERA.

So they took out a page in The Australian.

How about the @Athletics taking out a full page ad in The @australian newspaper today to celebrate Aussie all-star pitcher Liam Hendriks pic.twitter.com/XigmvMFHiI

— John Stensholt (@JohnStensholt) July 9, 2019

Whoopsie. The A’s included in the ad their organizational slogan #RootedinOakland

Leo Durocher might even have blushed at that.

Aussie Liam Hendriks confirmed to me that the A's slogan "Rooted in Oakland" has been a source of some hilarity for him. "Rooted" is a very, very naughty word in Australia.

— Phil Barber (@Skinny_Post) April 20, 2019

Not even going to try to parse this tweet from 2015.

I'm gonna miss Liam Hendriks. I rooted for him, in part because I have family in Perth, and I feel like that makes us cousins somehow.

— Tao of Stieb (@TaoofStieb) November 21, 2015