Let’s recap the last week or so in baseball: Jose Bautista got punched in the face during the massive brawl between the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays. Raul A. Mondesi got popped for PEDs after taking the wrong cough syrup. Brad Ausmus had a meltdown, cussing out an umpire and leaving his hoodie on home plate.
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There were suspensions aplenty, all for different increments, all proving that baseball’s scales of justice are strange.
Keep in mind also that Bryce Harper was suspended last week for running back onto the field after he was ejected — and cussing out the umpire in the process.
I talk about all this in the latest installment of my Open Mike video series — mainly because it’s endlessly amusing that taking the wrong cough syrup is worth a 50-game suspension but punching a dude in the face is worth eight games.
It’s also wonderful to watch how fans consume all this and assign the labels of hero and villain, or good guy and bad guy. Rougned Odor is now beloved by a number of people because he can throw a good punch while Harper continues to be vilified, even though umpires get F-bombed every single game. Sometimes by fans!
I’m not here to say who is the hero or the villain. I’m also not here to be the morality police. I’ll stay out of that fight. But I will sit back and enjoy the wackiness that comes when baseball has to play “Law & Order.”
Sidenote: If you’re like me and you love T-shirts that combine hip-hop songs and baseball stats, you can get your own “Down with OBP” shirt from Center Field Smoke.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
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