Updated: Texas And Toronto Forget About Game, Brawl Instead

Author by scoutsaysweitersisabustPosted in Baseball, Fight! Fight! Fight!

Texas and Toronto got into a massive fight in the top of the 8th after Jose Bautista (I’m not saying he was at at fault, but why is he always in the middle of these sort of things) slid hard into second and Rougned Odor came up swinging.  (Bautista was on first after he was hit by a pitch and benches were immediately warned by the officials.)  The play was still live at the time the fight occurred.

Image was found on Deadspin.

Bautista and Odor were ejected along with Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Texas bench coach Steve Buechele.

Umpires needed about 10 minutes to restore order, and Blue Jays reliever Jesse Chavez hit Prince Fielder with the next pitch when the game resumed, causing both teams to leave their dugouts again, although this time no punches were thrown.

I’m certain we will see suspensions galore after this one.  Maybe Texas is still a little miffed over the now infamous bat flip in last year’s playoffs.  The Rangers and Blue Jays are not scheduled to face each other again this season.

Ejection final tally:

Toronto: Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Jesse Chavez, Tim Leiper, 1B coach, John Gibbons, manager, DeMarlo Hale, bench coach.

Texas: Rougned Odor, Steve Buechele, bench coach

This is the actual fight.

Bautista getting hit preceding the fight.

Prince Fielder getting hit post fight.

ScoutsUpdate: Post Fight Quotes!

Jose Bautista had a few very interesting comments after the game.

“I thought it was pretty cowardly of them to wait until my last at-bat to do that, in the whole series.  It shows at least the apparent lack of leadership they have over there when it comes to playing baseball the right way. Baseball plays are supposed to be taken care of by baseball plays.”

“I had a hard slide at second base. I could have injured him (Odor), but I chose not to,” Bautista said of the slide. “I tried to send a message that I didn’t appreciate getting hit. … He got me pretty good (with his punch) so I have to give him that. But it takes a little bit of a bigger man, I guess, to knock me down.

 

See Bautista’s comments here.  (I tried to embed, but eventually gave up.  Sorry.)

I find it pretty hilarious that the most infamous bat flipper is now telling someone to play the game the right way.  You can’t have it both ways.  You say baseball plays are supposed to be taken care of by baseball plays?  Well, isn’t that what they were doing when they hit you in retaliation for your bat flip?  According to “the right way”, it should have ended right then and there.  But as you admitted, you decided to escalate matters with a purposeful take out slide.  What did you think was going to happen next?

John Gibbons called the Rangers “gutless”.

“It was gutless,” said Gibbons (via MLB.com), who was one of eight players and coaches ejected for their roles in three separate incidents during the game. “We’ve played seven games. … The other 29 teams, if they have an issue with you, they come at you right away.”

Matt Bush, the player who hit Bautista had no comment.

Odor wasn’t available to reporters after the game.

ScoutsEdit #2

According to Deadspin, Bautista’s slide was ruled to be in violation of the new slide rules (This is number two for Bautista) and the double play was awarded.

76 thoughts on “Updated: Texas And Toronto Forget About Game, Brawl Instead”

    1. Yeah, but it was his leg in the danger zone this time. And what does this have to do with the Rangers hating Joey’s guts?

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        1. What caused the fight was Joey not picking himself up and heading into the dugout. if he does that, instead of heading towards Odor, none of this happens.

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    1. I was at Dodger Stadium in 1977. Rick Reuschel hit Reggie Smith on the ankle and Reg hobbled out to the mound and just crushed him with an overhand right. 13 year old me experienced an atavistic surge of primal excitement, as did 56,000 other Dodger fans.

      Joey is trying to say he was sucker punched. Hey, guess what, if you stride towards a man talking shit with that I’m Joey Badass look on your face, you did not get sucker punched, you got punched. Now thank Beltre for saving you from more licks.

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    2. No, I blame Jeff Banister. Bush didn’t throw that pitch at Bautista without orders to. His “no comment” when asked if it was intentional says it all, as far as I’m concerned. Pretty chickenshit move to wait until a guy’s last at-bat in a series to plunk him intentionally. Texas needs to let Game 5 go, but obviously they just can’t.

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      1. I agree that they threw at Bautista on purpose, just watching the catcher’s reaction to the flight of the ball….looks like he didn’t ever plan on catching that pitch.

        …but that doesn’t mean Bautista should be flying over the bag trying to break a guys ankle. That move is at least as chicken shit, and I would say chicken shittier, than throwing at a guy….at least the guy getting thrown at has some protection and is looking at the ball….flying into the ankles of a defenseless fielder is every bit as bad.

        Bautista is a dick. I love the bat flips, but his ego won’t let anything go either…he thinks he’s right about every ball-strike call, about every check swing, and about that every time he was hit it was on purpose….all he had to do was not try to break a guys ankle and then not walk at the guy whose ankle he just tried to break after the play. The brawl itself, was 100% Bautista’s fault..

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        1. Agreed. Bautista’s slide had ACL blowout written all over it. And then he was going after Odor? Dafuq did Odor do to warrant that?

          Liked by 1 person

        2. I agree. I don’t think Rougned was particularly out of line. Bautista may have thought he was just going to go jaw at him nose to nose the way guys who really don’t want to fight do sometimes, but Rougie can’t be expected to know that.

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        3. Bautista may have thought he was just going to go jaw at him nose to nose the way guys who really don’t want to fight do sometimes

          Has the dude never seen a bar/schoolyard fight before? The “let’s do this” is always the two hand shove. Odor hit him with it, and Bautista squared up. It’s Mills Lane “let’s get it on” time after that.

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        5. Yes, I am.

          Bautista tried to end his season. Then Bautista got up and walked toward Odor when Odor took exception to the EXTREMELY dirty slide, and when he was pushed away, Bautista came right back….AND Bautista was in the process of clenching his fist to take a swing himself.

          Exactly how many times is a guy supposed to be able to be the aggressor before some the person being accosted takes the initiative? More than 3?

          Liked by 2 people

        6. Odor is the one with the history of instigating brawls, not Bautista. It’s amazing how much difference a rule change makes. Last year and forever before that, that is not an “extremely” dirty slide, it is breaking up the double play. Odor made it physical first with the two-hand shove. Bautista didn’t try to “end his season” any more than every runner who ever tried to break up a double play did. That is an exaggeration made by someone who doesn’t like Bautista. I don’t care if you don’t like him, but don’t blow stuff out of proportion. Odor is on record (COPO’s twitter link above) on making a much more egregious attempt at ending someone’s career… but since it was legal at the time… hey! no big deal, right? Bullshit!

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  8. I’m a Bautista admirer but even I believe he lets his emotions take over sometimes. But my big takeaway: Hit Fielder? FIELDER?!?! Set him up for the double play, maybe, because HBP is the only way for him to get on base.

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    2. Yeah, that was pointless. The Rangers were idiots for hitting Bautista, and even bigger idiots to do so in to lead off an inning in a 1-run game….but the Blue Jays had a chance to just let shit go, and they failed 3 times (at least). What? Trying to break a guys leg wasn’t enough retribution? Or then being a dick about having just tried to break a guys leg? No, that wasn’t enough. Let’s show how stupid we really are by insisting on hitting one of their guys, because, again, trying to break a guys ankle and starting a brawl wasn’t payback enough?

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      1. Your first point is beyond argument. The Rangers were idiots for carrying that whole macho exercise forward from last year. It went off the deep end for everybody after that. But the start of the whole thing was unbelievably childish.

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        1. Agreed, Stex… this is a case of the Rangers not being able to let it go and blaming their exit from the 2015 postseason on some guy who flipped a bat. They took a 2-0 series lead in the ALDS (on the road) and couldn’t close the deal. They got a 3-2 lead in game 5 on a freak play and couldn’t close the deal. Add to that the bad memories of 2011 where they blew 2-run leads in consecutive innings (where they would have won the WS had they prevailed), and this is just Texas needing to find someone else to blame for their failure to hold a lead under pressure. If you want to “send a message”, you don’t wait until the guy’s last at-bat in the last game of the season series to do so.

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        2. Yes, the Rangers should have gotten over it. But the Jays needed to man up after that. And failed.

          And don’t gloss over the fact that Joey Bats is building a reputation as one of the league’s real hotheads.

          Liked by 2 people

  9. Pingback: So, What Did I Miss? RBF Edition. (5/16/16) | Fan Interference

  10. Time to play Guess The Suspensions!

    Rangers:
    Odor – 10 games
    Bush – 2 games

    Blue Jays:
    Bautista – 5 games
    Chavez – 3 games
    Encarnacion – 1 game
    Gibbons – 1 game

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    1. Odor and Bautista should have the same suspension. Otherwise you are intimating that one or the other was at fault when in the end it was both parties. Odor shouldn’t get penalized for landing a pinch that Bautista was trying to throw himself.

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      1. He shouldn’t, but he will.

        Plenty of punches get thrown, but it’s rare that we see punches really land like that in these base-brawls. I won’t be surprised at all if Odor gets penalized for winning the race to the punch.

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        1. But that will get appealed and probably sustained. In the end, you suspend them both the same.

          At least I hope it goes that way.

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        2. Yeah, I’m not taking the appeals process into account at all here. Just the initial sentences.

          But I don’t think Odor and Bautista deserve the same suspension. I completely understand the hatred that many folks (and nearly everyone here) has for him, but he’s not the Antichrist or Hitler. He slid like an asshole, no doubt about that…but there’s rules in place and on-the-field consequences for that. He definitely intended to punch Odor, but for whatever reason, he didn’t. Intent is not the same as execution.

          Odor threw the first (and maybe only, I’d have to watch it again) punch. That carries extra penalties. It always has.

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        3. The more I look at the video and look at the other players, it appeared there were several guys either throwing punches, or flaying about. It is a very interesting video and I’m sure it’ll take MLB a few days to properly review.

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      2. Yet if Bautista had landed a punch first, then everyone would be demonizing him, calling for a long suspension and no one in the world would be advocating for the same suspension as Odor. As Lefty said, clenching your fist and actually hitting a guy in the face are not the same thing, and don’t deserve the same penalty.

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        1. Oh get over the persecution complex. If Joey had his knee taken out and then was further provoked and was facing off with somebody who was about to hit him, he’d get some slack, too. Odor’s getting a lengthy suspension, but Bautista initiated that.

          Liked by 1 person

        2. The Rangers are the ones that need to let it go. Bautista’s bat flip last fall was merely the culmination of an inning where the Rangers defense imploded and committed three consecutive errors to load the bases, then Odor misplayed a bloop by Donaldson, then Dyson served up a fat juicy pitch to a damn good hitter. But this is all Bautista’s fault for showing emotion after hitting a series-winning home run. Right…

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        3. No one ever said this was Bautista’s fault for the bat flip. They said he was at fault for his slide that he even admitted was intended to send a message. Again, it’s a little of everyone’s fault. Bruised egos all around.

          Liked by 1 person

        4. If they aren’t blaming Bautista for the bat flip, why is Bush hitting him intentionally in his final at-bat of the last game the two teams will play this season (barring a playoff meeting)?

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        5. I don’t know. This is the problem with players policing themselves. We rarely know what slight causes one team to look for retribution over another. Regardless, as I have said, all parties are equally as culpable here and there is plenty of blame to spread around.

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        6. I have been pro-Bautista with regards to the bat flip. I thought the Rangers’ whining about it was petulant. I thought hitting him at the last possible opportunity was gutless. That said, it was a dirty, uncalled for slide, he escalated the situation, and he was winding up to hit Odor as well. He was just slower on the draw. So, no, people aren’t just calling him out because they don’t like him. Again, get over the persecution complex. Your boy handled himself like shit here. Stop being a homer and own that.

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        7. I thought hitting him at the last possible opportunity was gutless.

          I don’t agree with this sentiment at all. Hitting him at the last possible opportunity is the best way to go about it. Bean him on his way out the door, and let him stew on it for the next few days/weeks/months rather than giving him the chance to get that frustration out of his system while he’s still playing your team.

          You can hope your team is macho about beaning people. I’ll just hope my team is smart about it.

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        8. I agree that the slide was uncalled for (it only became “dirty” this year due to the rule change) as it gave the Rangers another reason to go after Bautista. What I object to is people giving Odor a pass when he instigated physical contact — the two hand shove. Has that always been the acceptable reaction to that type of slide? Never mind the legality of it as far as MLB goes… in fact, one could argue that with that sort of slide being verboten, it now carries a specific penalty, and it is MLB’s job to apply the penalty, not the offended player’s. My question is, when has it been acceptable to react to a broken up double play by physically shoving the runner? Yes, the slide was wrong and Bautista should have just walked away, but he didn’t shove Odor or throw a punch (looking like he wanted to is not the same thing). Remember, Odor is the one with the history of dirty play and brawling, not JB. It will be interesting to see if the Rangers can grow up and move on next season, now that the next move is theirs. I guess that will all depend if they embarrass themselves in the postseason again (assuming they make it), and need a target.

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        9. I’d prefer they get the fuck over the bat flip and let it go altogether. They decided they were going to be macho by punishing him for showing emotion for a huge home run in an emotionally-charged playoff series. They chose to do it in a chickenshit manner.

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        10. Of course getting the fuck over it and letting it go would be the ideal solution. But that clearly wasn’t going to happen.

          If you are saying it’s chickenshit to intentionally bean any hitter at any time, then you won’t get an argument from me. But if you are saying that it’s only chickenshit to bean a guy right before he leaves town, and would have been fine at any other point in the series, then that’s just stupid.

          Leaving that macho shit at the door would be best, but if you’ve decided to bring that macho shit onto the field, at least try to be smart about where and when you do it.

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        11. @Lefty… Personally, I’d prefer my team was above the 5th grade mentality of trying to retaliate for a percieved slight from the season before… remember, that ALDS choke was no fault of Bautista or any other Blue Jay… Texas needs to look in the mirror to assign blame for that.

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    2. I think it is really close…at least in ratios of relative punishment…I think it’ll all be scaled to what they give Odor, which will be twice as much for landing a punch. These suspensions will be meted out based on PR, not based on merit.

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      1. I do believe you mean “the man code” there when you say “PR.” The comments sections around have been full of judgements based on that for this one.

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  12. But let’s talk about what’s important. If Odor gets suspended my Fantasy team is out a second baseman.

    Oh, the horror!

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    1. Depending on how long he’s out, you might be able to grab Profar. If he’s out for as long as I think he could be, I bet the Rangers make a roster move.

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      2. Right now I have Bryant in the outfield and Carpenter at third base. Most likely I will just slide them over to third and second and wait it out. I should have Lowrie off the DL, too, by the time the suspensions are appealed and enforced.

        But I have thought about Profar as a pick up. We will see what the Rangers do first.

        So much for shop talk.

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