Sunday afternoon was a doozy, as the Blue Jays and Rangers rivalry heated up to the surface of the sun. Matt Bush threw at Jose Bautista, ostensibly revenge for Bautista’s bat flip in the ALDS last year. Bautista then slid late into second baseman Rougned Odor on a ground ball double play attempt. Odor wasn’t happy, so he threw some punches at Bautista, one of which landed cleanly.
Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman, who was at Duke University graduating while his team played the Rangers in Texas, tweeted that he “never had respect” for Odor and “never will.”
Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports brought up a scout’s take on Odor when he debuted in 2014, who said, “The thing I love about him the most is you do not want to [expletive] with him.”
Apparently, Odor has a bit of a reputation. The takes have continued to come in, including one from Padres pitcher Brandon Morrow. Morrow tweeted, “blah, blah, something about glass houses…” and attached four photos of Odor sliding hard into second basemen, including one with his spikes up.
This also isn’t the first time Odor has been involved in a baseball brawl and thrown punches. In 2011, Odor was with Single-A Spokane, his first year in professional baseball. He was playing against the Vancouver Canadians, the Blue Jays’ affiliate. Odor slid late into shortstop Shane Opitz, and the two appeared to brush up against each other as Odor was leaving the field. Odor stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, pushed Opitz, then tried to punch him in the face. Odor then attempted to punch the second baseman, who was coming to his teammate’s defense. All of that earned Odor a four-game suspension.
Major League Baseball hasn’t yet announced punishments for any of the players involved in Sunday’s altercation, but Odor is likely looking at a fine and a suspension.
