Rougned Odor connected a punch to Jose Bautista’s jaw that would make the likes of Mike Tyson and Muhammed Ali smile. They don’t come any cleaner than that ladies and gentlemen. A direct hit. And you know you got him good when his sunglasses and helmet come flying off, as if he just ran into a brick wall.
I’m all for hard nosed baseball. I love it when a hard slide into second base breaks up a double play just as much as the next guy. It’s one of the most underrated plays in baseball. However, when you slide with an intent to end someone’s career, then there is a problem. Bautista slides way past the base and then decides to get into Odor’s face? I would have tried to knock him out too.
In the end, I think this exchange will be beneficial for baseball. The league has seen the fire in most of its rivalries dwindle in the past couple years. We all know the Yankee and Red Sox rivalry isn’t what it used to be. Rivalries make games exciting to watch and the MLB is in desperate need of them. This bad blood between the Rangers and Jays will make their future games against each other much more entertaining to watch.
