In big moments, a big hit warrants a little bit of pimping, but what Bautista did last October was over the top. It was extremely satisfying watching Odor jack his big-eared head back.
That was the sweetest punch I've seen in sports. And I'm including boxing and MMA in the "sports" umbrella here. POW. Like an old 1960s Batman villain. Bautista is a notorious complainer/loudmouth. I don't know that he's well liked, which is not an excuse but certainly sets the stage. And what a series of events. 1. Texas pitcher, fresh out of jail, drills a 98mph fastball into the star batter's ribs. 2. Bautista slides into second, with the intent to take out Odor's legs and screw up the throw, which he does. As an aside, I think the new sliding rule is stupid and that Bautista played that play exactly how it should be done. 3. Bautista thinks he's going to run smack and, "Guys, hold me back!" it. 4. BOOM. A punch that looks beautiful from any angle. The impressive thing here is that Bautista did not collapse, though he was mostly saved by Beltre coming in and restraining/supporting him. 5. Everyone gets ejected, things settle down, and the first play back the Blue Jays deliberately hit the Texan batter. Stupid to begin with, but they hit PRINCE FIELDER. Fielder, who is at the end of his career with nothing to prove, who must weigh 300lbs and is only employed to hit grand slams. Good choice, pitcher. I think the whole thing was entertaining and just an example of good, old-school baseball. Yeah, there will be some suspensions but I don't mind anything about how that game went down.
No issues with any of this happening. Except of course the Rangers knowing full well they won't have to face the Blue Jays again this season. So....... they wait until the last game and the last at bat for Bautista, to hit him. Thus, there is no chance for reciprocation for the Rangers or for Odor. The Rangers had plenty of chances to hit Bautista already and provide pay back for the 'bat-flip' but instead waited until the last possible moment to get away with it. Now I am a Jays fan and love Bautista but also love that he took a right hook to the face. It was mesmerizing. Equally impressive is that Bautista didn't complain or cry about Odor hitting him and understood it was part of what happens when you lay down a dirty slide into second. This is great baseball enjoyed by all.
No chance for reciprocation? They HIT FIELDER ON THE FIRST PITCH immediately afterward. They got their retaliation.
I repped you but... Odor's line is better than Bautista's, currently. And his career average is higher. So........I don't know what you're saying here? Odor is known for power from a small player. Find pics of him in civilian clothes. Dude is jacked.
Question: Why didn't Dyson hit Bautista when he had the chance in previous games? Why do you bring in an ex-con pitcher to do it? If it's supposed to be revenge shouldn't it be Dyson doing it since he was the one shown up by that 'vicious' bat-flip?
My thoughts exactly. It was even up to that point. Bautista's bat flip +1 Blue Jays Bautista getting hit by a fastball even Bautista's dirty slide +1 Blue Jays Bautista get punched even Fielder getting plunked +1 Blue Jays It ain't over. Post season or next season, Bautista is getting at least one aimed at his ear hole.
Because there is then the chance of proclaiming innocence. Bush was not part of the organization when the bat flip occurred, or even in organized baseball. That leaves 3 options: 1) He was ordered to do it, 2) He did it of his own volition to make brownie points, or 3) Maybe the ball just got away from him.
Bush went high inside on Donaldson before. It's not improbable the pitch got away from him - it was his second MLB outing ever. Aside from that - you point out Bushs prison record like that's why Bautista was hit. Bush has a helluva arm, and a ball got away at a perfect storm time. Throw in that hitting the tying run and bringing him on would just be bad tactical baseball, and *shrug* there's a solid argument that it wasn't intentional. But if it was - Where does this notion that one gets to choose when one suffers comeuppance come from?
There is a very good chance Bautista isn't even back with the Jays next year, so if they don't meet in the playoffs does some other random team inherit Bautista's 'debt'?
Wouldn't that be an awesome twist? If this was not some Great Planned Event, but just a rookie pitcher who let one slide and accidentally hit the wrong dude? Imagine the locker room afterwards. "So, guys...I totally didn't mean to do that. My bad."
Somewhat. After Reggie Jackson's HR in the '71 All Star game against Doc Ellis, Ellis took exception. In '76 when Ellis was with the Yanks and Jackson with the Orioles, Ellis drilled him.
I mean. Not out of realm of probability. The idea that Plunking Bautista > dirty slide > Rougie jawing Bautista > 10 minute brawl resulting in multiple ejections Was all planned is a stretch, I think. Toronto really WANTS it to be about bat flip, but hanging onto that overlooks the reality that Odor has never been one to shy from brawling.
It was assumed that Bautista was going to get hit, and if he got hit it was because of the bat flip. Everything AFTER that was just circumstance. No need for Bautista to go in with the hard slide and then attempt to stare down Odor, and you right, Odor is not going to back down from Bautista and thus the brawl ensues. So not intentional but happy coincidence for sure.
This is all also why baseball is fucking stupid about some shit. People getting plunked 7 months later for not "playing the right way". And for the record I think hockey line fights at the start of a period to settle a score from a different game are stupid too. In the game, heat of the moment, fair enough. Delayed butthurt is fucking stupid.
If Bautisita had taken getting plunked as well as he took the punch, the rest wouldn't have happened. He got plunked in the ribs (ow) for the bat flip, and called it cowardly to wait until that at bat. He didn't even start his slide until he was ON second base (knee surgery > bruised ribs) and Bautista "not crying or complaining" including him making a dig at Odor's size by saying it takes a little bit bigger man to knock him down. Odor make Bautista's knees buckle and got another gloved hand whack on top of his head before getting separated. If he understood that dropping a dirty slide may lead to a confrontation, why didn't he also understand to let it go, and call it even after he got plunked?
This will be racist and perhaps incendiary, but I've never met a Latino or Latina person in my life handled anger or disrespect very well. In my (limited) experience, they go fucking crazy if you piss them off, to the degree that it doesn't even make sense upon reflection. I don't think Bautista is any different.