By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
It is safe to say that the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays loathe each other. The two teams’ animosity for the other has been simmering since last year’s American League Playoff Series when Toronto outfielder, Jose Bautista, crushed a late game home run and threw his bat in celebration, a move which Rangers’ players and coaches deemed to be excessive and classless.
On Monday, May 15, all hell broke loose between the two teams in the top of the eighth inning after Bautista slid hard into the feet of the Rangers’ second baseman, Rougned Odor, during a double play. Odor immediately responded by shoving Bautista and then throwing a punch, but not just any punch; this was a punch that Mike Tyson would have been proud of.
Pandemonium ensued as players and coaches from both teams rushed the field. The scene was so chaotic that it took the umpires just over ten minutes to restore order and restart the game.
“I was pretty surprised,” Bautista said in an interview with ESPN. “I mean, obviously, that’s the only reason he got me, and he got me pretty good, so I have to give him that. It takes a little bigger man to knock me down.”
Odor was handed down an eight game suspension by the MLB brass, and Bautista was suspended one game for his hard slide and post-game comments. Both Odor and Bautista issued appeals and will play with their respected teams until a verdict is reached in the appeal process.
Although Odor’s haymaker and the resulting scuffle provided drama which is scarcely seen in MLB, Odor earns the idiot of the week award because he let his emotions get the best of him. Odor’s eight game suspension, which is very unlikely to be overturned or even lowered, will no doubt have a negative effect on his team who is currently in second place in the American League West division.
Odor should have taken his frustrations out on the field, and not on his opponent.
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
