Charlie Montoyo thought he would be taking a hard line against video games in his first year as Toronto Blue Jays manager.
Before he could put his foot down on Fortnite, the players took it upon themselves to govern their gaming.
Manager Gabe Kapler acknowledged the Fortnite playing, but he and pitcher Jake Arrieta deny it was happening during games.Video games have long been a pastime for big leaguers, but Fortnite pushed their popularity to another level last season. The Houston Astros hooked up gaming consoles to many of the 10 TVs in their spring training clubhouse for raucous, team-wide clashes, and the Boston Red Sox routinely played in hotel rooms after games.
Montoyo, a longtime minor league manager who was most recently bench coach in Tampa Bay, anticipated making changes in Toronto when he took the job this off-season. The Blue Jays had a reputation as a gamer-friendly clubhouse last year while going 73-89. First-year Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward established early that he'd be proactive on limiting gaming. He worked with veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus to establish rules on consoles and phones. Players can still do some gaming at the ballpark, but the message is clear.
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