Harold Kasselman's Blog - Posts Tagged "texas-rangers"
Texas brawl hurts Blue Jay
I was just watching MLB's Brian Kenny and a crew of John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, and another non-baseball guest discuss the baseball brawl that occured over the weekend at Texas between the Rangers and Jays. First, a little background. Last October during the playoffs, the Rangers and Jays were locked in a great duel. They were tied going into the deciding 5th game. The last game was very emotional and the game had a lot of highs and lows as the score and leader changed.
Jose Buatista hit a gigantic home run and the Jays went ahead. But it was the manner in which Bautista acted after he connected that really stuck in the craw of the Rangers. He stood there for seconds, and then flipped his bat in an "in your face manner" (at least to the Rangers) way up in the air and trotted around the bases in a majestic fashion.
Anyone who follows the game knew there would be hell to pay next season because Texas would pay back Bautista for showing them up. It happened Sunday. It was the last game of this paricular series between the two teams for the rest of the season.Texas pitcher Matt Bush, called up a day earlier, (and formerly incarcerated for a felony) threw a high fastball which slammed Bautista in the ribs. And apparently the Ranger need for retaliation outweighed putting the tying run aboard in the 8th inning.The plate umpire, considering the bat flip of October, immediately ejected the pitcher Bush and the Texas mananger.
For his part, Bautista then took off for second base on a ground ball hit to third. He slid late, hard, and based on the new rule, illegally into Rougned Odor the Texas second sacker. Bautista got up and stared at Odor. The latter pushed Bautista very hard. Bautista was about to wind up for a punch but Odor landed a tremendous overhhand right hand to the jaw of Bautista. (Odor did the same thing in the minors with equal success.) Then both teams circled the players but the worst was over.
Now back to the MLB show. John Smoltz acutally admitted that he had been ORDERED to retaliate against a batter before by hitting him with a fastball. I have never heard a player(former) say that, although I did hear former manager Kevin Kennedy admit he ordered it when he managed(on radio). The usual defense is that the "ball just got away from me", or "the ball was nicked". Why? To avoid or diminish the length of punishment.
Then Brian Kennedy asked what if Odor had broken Bautista's jaw and disabled him for 8 weeks. Should the punishment be greater? It's a good question. The next logical question, which was not asked but should have been, is whether a crime would have been committed if the jaw had been broken. Yes, even in a mutual fight.
In any event, it will be interesting to see what punishments Odor, Bautista, and Bush get for this unusual real fight in a baseball game.
If you'd enjoy reading a novel about such an incident and concept, please take a look at my novel called a Pitch For Justice available on Amazon.com
Jose Buatista hit a gigantic home run and the Jays went ahead. But it was the manner in which Bautista acted after he connected that really stuck in the craw of the Rangers. He stood there for seconds, and then flipped his bat in an "in your face manner" (at least to the Rangers) way up in the air and trotted around the bases in a majestic fashion.
Anyone who follows the game knew there would be hell to pay next season because Texas would pay back Bautista for showing them up. It happened Sunday. It was the last game of this paricular series between the two teams for the rest of the season.Texas pitcher Matt Bush, called up a day earlier, (and formerly incarcerated for a felony) threw a high fastball which slammed Bautista in the ribs. And apparently the Ranger need for retaliation outweighed putting the tying run aboard in the 8th inning.The plate umpire, considering the bat flip of October, immediately ejected the pitcher Bush and the Texas mananger.
For his part, Bautista then took off for second base on a ground ball hit to third. He slid late, hard, and based on the new rule, illegally into Rougned Odor the Texas second sacker. Bautista got up and stared at Odor. The latter pushed Bautista very hard. Bautista was about to wind up for a punch but Odor landed a tremendous overhhand right hand to the jaw of Bautista. (Odor did the same thing in the minors with equal success.) Then both teams circled the players but the worst was over.
Now back to the MLB show. John Smoltz acutally admitted that he had been ORDERED to retaliate against a batter before by hitting him with a fastball. I have never heard a player(former) say that, although I did hear former manager Kevin Kennedy admit he ordered it when he managed(on radio). The usual defense is that the "ball just got away from me", or "the ball was nicked". Why? To avoid or diminish the length of punishment.
Then Brian Kennedy asked what if Odor had broken Bautista's jaw and disabled him for 8 weeks. Should the punishment be greater? It's a good question. The next logical question, which was not asked but should have been, is whether a crime would have been committed if the jaw had been broken. Yes, even in a mutual fight.
In any event, it will be interesting to see what punishments Odor, Bautista, and Bush get for this unusual real fight in a baseball game.
If you'd enjoy reading a novel about such an incident and concept, please take a look at my novel called a Pitch For Justice available on Amazon.com
