As a boxing and MMA fan, it’s hard not to appreciate the clean power punch Rudy Odor landed on José Bautista in last night’s game between the Rangers and the Blue Jays.
The punch led to an all-out brawl between the teams, perhaps fueled by the rivalry generated during last season’s Division Series post-season games, which the Jays took 3-2. Despite the spectacle, one can’t ignore the shameful aspect of this kind of violence in professional sports. Needless to say, fans had a lot of opinions, ranging from excitement to flat-out disappointment.
It all began with a hard slide into second base by José Bautista.
Odor didn’t hesitate to show how little he appreciated Bautista’s injury-inducing slide (which Odor was able to evade.)
Even Crying Jordan was summoned to the free-for-all:
Given Saúl Canelo Alvarez’s spectacular one-punch knockout of Amir Khan last week, comparisons to boxing were to be expected:
This one also seemed pretty obvious:
And the winner is?
Of course, many of the opinions were based on who fans supported:
Even Chivas and America made a cameo appearance:
It is unclear yet how the MLB will sanction teams and players, but it will definitely happen.