Official Suspensions for Texas/Toronto Brawl Announced

Author by scoutsaysweitersisabustPosted in Baseball, Suspension

The suspension for the Texas/Toronto brawl have been officially announced.  I waited on posting, as the initial suspensions were leaked, drip feed style, one after another, with nary an official announcement from MLB, and when it comes to this sort of thing, I prefer to stick to official statements, rather than the uncle of the guy’s agent sort of thing.  So let’s have a look shall we?

  • Texas: Rougned Odor – 8 games (For the punch felt around the world)
  • Toronto: Jesse Chavez – 3 games (For the HPB on Fielder after warning were issued)
  • Toronto: John Gibbons – 3 games (For returning to field after being previously ejected and for inciting further violence.)
  • Toronto: Jose Bautista – 1 game (For the dirty slide and post game comments that his dirty slide was completely intentional.)
  • Texas: Elvis Andrus – 1 game (For “aggressive actions” whatever the fuck that means.)
  • Toronto: Tim Leiper– 1 game (For returning to dugout after ejection.)
  • Toronto: Josh Donaldson, Kevin Pillar, DeMarlo Hale – (Fines for aggressive actions and for being a replacement manger when your guy plunks another guy after warnings.)
  • Texas: Matt Bush – Fined (For throwing at Bautista)
  • Texas: Sam Dyson and Steve Buechele (For aggressive actions), A.J. Griffin and Robinson Chirinos  (For going on the field while on DL.)

Bautista and Odor have already announced appeals.  Andrus did not appeal.

Since 2000, Odor’s eight-game suspension for fighting is two fewer than the penalty levied upon Cubs catcher Michael Barrett for punching then-White Sox backstop A.J. Pierzynski in ’06 and then-D-backs pitcher Ian Kennedy for starting a melee with the Dodgers in ’13 with high inside pitches.

Initial impressions?  Fuck the MLB is some serious weak ass bitches here.  I mean all around.

8 games for Odor, and only 1 for Bautista?  What the fuck is that?  Not only did Bautista cop to a dirty slide post game, but winded up to throw a punch.  He was clearly just as much of an aggressor as Odor, and played just as equal a role in the brawl.  And while I expected Odor to get a little higher penalty for landing the punch, that in no way excuses the actions of Bautista, which this penalty states loud and clear that if you are upset with someone for any reason, go ahead and try to end their fucking season and possibly their career with a dirty ass slide.  Just don’t throw a punch.  Good job managing player safety Torre.

John Gibbons three games for returning to the field after previously being ejected?  Time Leiper one game for the same fucking offense?  Laughable.  That won’t do shit to stop anyone in the future for doing the same damn thing.  Why even have umpires anymore if you are going to completely circumvent their authority?

Matt Bush fined?  Please.  This was the pitch that started the entire sequence.  Clearly MLB believes he was following orders, but refused to punish Jeff Banister for ordering the throw.  No consistency here.

So far the only penalty I even remotely agree with is the one for Jesse Chavez and even then I don’t understand why it’s so short.

MLB failed spectacularly here, to not only undermine any efforts at player safety, but to completely and utterly justify and reinforce terrible behavior.  I don’t recall seeing such a colossal and total penalty assessment failure since Roger Goodell.  Once again as has been shown in recent events, this penalty is more about PR than about curtailing any behavior.  Odor gets the huge penalty simply because there were gifs and memes and a lot of chatter over the punch.  MLB, you should be absolutely embarrassed, and the next time such an incident occurs, you have only yourself to blame.

32 thoughts on “Official Suspensions for Texas/Toronto Brawl Announced”

  2. Pillar went nuts and all he got was fined. He was winding up to punch a Ranger’s coach, but stopped at the last second as the guy cowered and cover his head with his arms. Except for Odor, most of this seems really light, if that is all they were giving to others, Odor should have got 2 or 3 games instead of 8.

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        1. The best way is to make sure that whatever url you are using has a .jpg or .gif or .png at the end of it. Those are image addresses. Otherwise, you are probably just going to end up with a link to somewhere rather than an embedded picture like you want.

          Maybe this is what you were looking for?

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    2. I’ve seen Odor’s punch quite a few times, and I don’t think that’s a hook. More like a straight right. Hooks are shorter and more compact.

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      2. The amusing side effect of this incident is learning how many people can’t identify punches and what it tells us about the vague language people use to discuss them.

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        1. If I was going to try to identify that specific punch, I’d call it a “right mutt”, because like mutt dogs, it’s not really any one distinguishable type. It’s some kind of straight right / overhand right hybrid.

          His right leg is behind his left, so it’s all upper body behind it with no hip rotation whatsoever. Maybe if he had some lower body energy in there, he’d have actually put Bautista on his ass instead of just buckling his knees. And of course, Bautista wasted time by trying to grab Odor’s jersey, while Odor just let one fly and hoped for the best. Had Odor missed, he would have been WIDE open for whatever Bautista was throwing.

          There’s just not a whole lot of technique involved from either of them. One thing is for sure though. Nobody was throwing any hooks.

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        1. Point taken, Scouts. I used that term once just for a little dramatic emphasis. From a fighter’s perspective, though, it is nothing like.

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        2. It doesn’t bother me as much when it’s just a regular person using it, but when I see someone on tv/radio/writers using it it really annoys me, because it takes all of like 45 seconds of research to know you are not using the proper terminology. It’s called Google people. Use it.

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        4. Haymakers are very exaggerated, wild, punches that typically have a very WIDE arc that comes from the side. Think of it more of making a gigantic arc or C pattern. The elbow is only partially bent, making more of a 90 degree angle. Haymakers tend to be very powerful, but also incredibly easy to block/counter/dodge, which is why they are rarely used by professionals, and are very commonly used in street fights by people who don’t know how to throw a fight. (Haymakers are more of a knock out punch, to be used when your opponent is dazed or distracted.)

          Odor’s punch was more of a strait right to a right cross, or even more of a powerful jab with a follow-through. His elbow was very bent, and came straight at Bautista.

          The reason Bautista never fell to the ground was due to the straight line nature of the punch and the fact that Odor’s body was falling away from Bautista, instead of having his feet planted firmly and using his waist on a pivot. Most of the power in a punch just like most of the power in your swing comes from the legs. It’s the same principle that comes from swinging an axe, or a baseball bat. If you ever watch a professional boxer’s match, the most important thing they will tell you is footwork. Maintaining mobility, while keeping the feet planted when delivering powerful blows.

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      4. Really? There is a question? Someone thought that was a hook? That was a straight up power punch. He pushed Bautista, then wound up, power punch. I actually trained in boxing–I was asked to box. My reply: “No, thank you, I like my face.” I was flattered. Power punch, jab, upper cut, hook. That was a straight up power punch. I really do want a tat of that punch, no joke.

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