The Punch Heard Round Major League Baseball

(Richard W. Rodriguez/Star-Telegram via AP)

It started off as a usual Sunday for Toronto sports fans. I woke up to "Cotton Eyed Joe" by the Rednex stuck in my head, but somehow I knew it was going to be exceptional. The Toronto Raptors were playing in Game 7 against the fired-up Miami Heat, and nearly 2,000 km away in Arlington, Texas, the Blue Jays were playing the Rangers in the final game of a 3-game series. Needless to say, half of the country was probably watching the Raptors, as they were going to be making history by going the furthest they've ever gone in the NBA Playoffs. But that didn't stop the Toronto-Texas game from having a moment of their own.

In the Top of the 8th, ex-con Matt Bush was on the mound for the Rangers, and who just happened to be at the place? None other than the $14 million outfielder, October bat-flipper, and Toronto's hottest Free Agent at the end of the season, Jose Bautista. I think every Toronto sports fan knows what happened the last time these two teams faced:

 

Anyways, the bat flip didn't sit well with Texas players, or the MLB. That game, no matter the outcome, will be remembered historically as one of baseball's best, and ironically, the time when many old school baseball fans complained about the batflip. That moment was probably the greatest moment in Blue Jays history, right up  there with Joe Carter's game winning home run in the 1993 World Series.

Fast forward to this weekend's series. For the second, and final time this season, the Blue Jays played the Texas Rangers, this time in Arlington, in a 3-game series. The first game saw the Jays outhit the Rangers by a score of 5-0. The second game, the Rangers showed a lot more offence and came back to win it in the 10th inning after a Drew Stubbs, a player who wasn't even on the Rangers' opening day roster, walk-off home run. The third game of the series was going to be the final time these two would face each other during the 2016 season. Now I'm not saying that Texas or Toronto had that significance in mind or not, but it definitely could have played a part in what lead to punches being thrown.

The tension started after the first ejection was handed out to Blue Jays First Base Coach Tim Leiper, who was arguing a call, or something that the umpires weren't seeing. Not too long after that, Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons was ejected after voicing his opinions. And that was just warm-up. In the bottom of the 7th, Ian Desmond hit a 2-run home run to give the Rangers a 7-6 lead. Now I may be overthinking it, but to me, Desmond looked like he was going for a bat flip of his own:

Fast forward to the Top of the 8th, Matt Bush, who I had learned not only was fresh out of prison, but he was also a former pitcher for the Blue Jays for a brief stint. The Jays acquired Matt Bush from San Diego in 2009 for a PTBNL. He was released six weeks later after throwing a baseball at a woman's head at a party. That's not the kind of Bush party I would like to attend.

But why Bush? And why Bautista? Well, as Ken Rosenthal points out, it may have had to do with the timing:

..."why wait to exact retribution until the Jays’ next-to-last at-bat of the seven-game season series between the teams? ...the Rangers did not throw at Bautista on Friday night. They did not throw at him on Saturday. No, they waited until Sunday, with the game on the line – and they chose Bush to carry out the mission, apparently because they had run out of time."

So if the Rangers wanted to retaliate and take back their pride that they had lost during Game 5 of last year's playoffs, this was the time to do it. With Bautista aboard, I guess the Rangers didn't feel like they got their message across. Or at least, that's what Rougned Odor thought. As Bautista came sliding into second, after this past offseason's Utley rule being put into place, Odor quickly turned around and shoved Bautista. Why? Was it the way he slid into second? Or was it to get back at him after Bautista made a mockery of the Rangers by proceeding with the Bat Flip incident? That's the thing we will never know. Here's the full incident, provided by MLB:

Well, that escalated quickly. After the brawl took place and the teams returned to their benches, they proceeded to play baseball, but at what cost? Was it an actual baseball game anymore? The next half-inning, Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Chavez got tossed after hitting Prince Fielder, and once more the benches cleared, as if the numerous ejections from the last bench clearing wasn't enough. Now I don't know if Chavez's incident was intentional or not, either way, after throwing that pitch, he just walked right off the field without waiting for the call.

I seriously question the judgment of anyone who compares Bautista's slide to Odor's punch. It's like comparing a foul in soccer to a red card. Sure it may have been an aggressive slide, but that would have been dealt with by the umpires or the MLB. The clear difference is that sliding into second is part of baseball. Punching someone in the face is not part of baseball, or something you would normally do in the game. They are wildly different things all together.

As a sports writer, I get it; these two teams have a bitter rivalry that has escalated over time, and it would be pretty awesome to see these two battle it out in a final Wild Card game for the 2016 World Series. But that's wishful thinking. One thing is certain; after yesterday's game, The Jays-Rangers may have opened up an Attitude Era of Major League Baseball, when all Bryce Harper wants is for baseball to be fun again. And this was simply entertaining at least. But entertaining comment aside, I think this is exactly why the "baseball needs to be fun" campaign exists. Tempers getting hot and everyone taking things personal is the antithesis of fun baseball. And that's not what baseball is all about. For that, you turn to UFC or sometimes hockey. There's no fighting in baseball. Period.

And this rivalry didn't start with the bat flip. The bat flip was the culmination of the rest of the series. It was a well-earned bat flip by the time it happened. Joe Carter's home run and Joey's bat flip are two moments that will stay with me for the rest of my life. How long will a punch to the chin stay with a Rangers fan? Not long. Besides, my memories celebrate achievement; theirs commemorate failure.

Until next time,

Drew