Dear baseball, more fights please...
In a stunning display of etiquette and sportsmanship, Rougned Odor – a player for the Texas Rangers – caused a mid-game brawl by punching a player from Toronto Blue Jays, Jose Bautista, in the jaw.
https://twitter.com/btaplatt/status/731971329570672640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
They got into a fistfight behind the bag after a hard slide by the Toronto slugger at Odor's legs in the midst of a double play in the top of the eighth inning. Players from both teams rushed the field, and Odor shoved Bautista, then landed a punch to his face.
Bautista had reached base after being hit by a pitch from
Matt Bush. "I had a hard slide at second base. I could have injured [Odor, but] I chose not to," Bautista said. "I tried to send a message that I didn't appreciate getting hit [by the pitch]."
According to initial reports, the crowd frantically started chanting "USA! USA!" when the fight broke out, despite one of the athletes being from Venezuela and the other from the Dominican Republic.
Needless to say, it got out of hand in a matter of seconds...
https://twitter.com/Ankaman616/status/732096592581406720
And where would America's national pastime be without constant and ruthless meme-ification?
https://twitter.com/BrandonYounger/status/732016391834849281
https://twitter.com/RedSox730/status/732041815780524034
https://twitter.com/JGolic88/status/731998895203594240
https://twitter.com/PrestonSmith94/status/732025644322832384
https://twitter.com/Joebudd22/status/732095978954592256
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0p38fYS504
Thankfully, post-game and post-punch, both men were still good sports about the whole affair...
Odor, who is purportedly Texas' star slugger, later apologised for hitting Bautista in the face.
The two have now officially kissed and made up.
https://twitter.com/gregorMLB/status/731987922728050688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
