Most Major League Baseball brawls don’t involve much more than a lot of pushing, posturing and harsh words. But Sunday’s brouhaha between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays woke up fans with a punch for the ages, courtesy of Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor.
It all started after the Jays’ All-Star outfielder Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch. During the next at-bat he attempted a takeout slide of Odor, who promptly clocked Bautista in the jaw, sparking a bench-clearing brawl and earning both players ejections.
Bautista pulled no punches after the game, calling the incident “cowardly,” and getting in a dig against his opponent: “He got me pretty good so I have to give him that,” Bautista said. “But it takes a little bit of a bigger man, I guess, to knock me down.”
Benches cleared again the following inning after the Rangers’ Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch in retaliation. That got Toronto pitcher Jesse Chavez and acting manager DeMarco Hale ejected.
Speaking of retaliation, the bad blood all started in last season’s playoffs, after Bautista flipped his bat — some say an excessive celebration — after a series-winning home run.
Odor is no stranger to fights on the field. In the minor leagues, he took on half a team by himself.
Fans, meanwhile, reveled in the melee, sending both “Odor” and “Joey Bats” — Bautista’s nickname — trending on Twitter
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nationwide. Confused fans in Texas even chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” after the Venezuelan-born Odor punched the Dominican-born Bautista.
Both players will likely receive suspensions and hefty fines from the commissioner’s office.
The Rangers won the game, incidentally, 7-6.
