Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor punched Toronto Blue Jay’s outfielder Jose Bautista in the face on Sunday afternoon. Bautista was put on first base after being drilled in the ribs by Rangers reliever (and convicted felon) Matt Bush. Edwin Encarnacion flied out to left, and Justin Smoak hit a double play ball to third. Bautista slid late into second, but didn’t take out Odor. Odor, due to dropping his arm lower than he normally does when turning two, threw the ball into the ground and way off the bag. Odor turned to face Bautista, pushed him, and then punched him right in the face, effectively clearing both benches, and getting himself ejected, along with Bautista.
Now that we are all caught up, let’s talk about what this was all really about: the Rangers feelings are STILL hurt from Bautista flipping his bat after a monster home run during last years’ ALDS. And hey, that would be ok if they suffered in silence, like all losers should. But no, their parade of hurt feelings is continuing on seven months after the fact. Seven months may not seem like that much time, especially when you take into account the five month off season, so let’s adjust the perspective a bit; since Bautista’s now infamous at-bat on October 14, 2015, he has had 32 at-bats vs. the Rangers. That is 32 chances for the Rangers to get their cry-baby revenge, and anyone in MLB will tell you that if you’re going to exact revenge, it should be done as soon as possible. The Rangers did not heed those “unwritten rules”.
Despite that ridiculous waiting period, the Rangers (and a load of fans and analysts) want you to think that this incident was off-the-cuff. They want you to believe that Bush hit center mass on Bautista on accident, and that a hard slide into second base is what caused Odor to haul off and punch Bautista across the face. I may be more inclined to believe that Odor was upset about the late slide, if he didn’t have one of the worst late slides in recent memory (barring Chase Utley’s slide into Ruben Tejada). And as far as Bush is concerned, it wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibility to think that a rookie might lose his grip and accidentally bean someone. But, considering how incredibly coincidental that would have to be, it is a little too hard to believe. Add to that the fact that Bush hit Bautista directly in the ribs, and a slip seems even more far-fetched.
Even with all of that being said, Bautista, in the eyes of the fans, will still be seen as the bad guy. He essentially entered into the running for “MLB Villain” by his all-around brashness, but his bat flip last fall effectively gave him the crown. There is little that someone like Bautista can do to vacate that title once it’s bestowed upon him by the fans and the media alike. And that begs the question; why has Bautista been vilified for celebrating the biggest hit of his career, while Odor is being viewed as a hero for punching another player in the face? What it all boils down to is an American culture-wide problem with winners.
Bautista is a rough-around-the-edges kinda player, so no one (besides Blue Jay’s fans) wanted to see him win, and when he did, it sent the MLB collective fanbase and media into a tizzy. In light of this latest incident, it seems like everyone was chomping at the bit for Bautista to “get his”. You would think that this guy did something truly disgraceful, like getting into 3 hit and run accidents in one night, and then running over a guy’s head with a car….oh wait, that was Matt Bush, and yet everyone is lauding his performance for plunking Bautista. Here we are hoisting up a player who almost snapped someone’s tibia/fibula last fall and a player who was convicted of manslaughter, all in the name of sore losing.
Bryce Harper wasn’t wrong when he said that baseball needs to be made fun again. Seeing players hitting big home runs, making huge outs, getting fired up, getting in each other’s faces, is fun. While the surface drama of yesterday’s game was certainly entertaining, knowing the motivation behind it all doesn’t make it fun, it makes it embarrassing. Rangers, we all know your early exit from the playoffs last year must’ve stung, but it’s time to get over it and move on because at the end of the day, there are no amount of beanballs or punches thrown that will bring that ball back from the upper-deck of the Rogers Centre.
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