“I can tell when somebody’s coming hard to second base”.
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Replays and commentary of Rougned Odor’s brawl-triggering encounter with Jose Bautista kept playing on the TV sets in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse at the Oakland Coliseum before Monday night’s game, and the topic was inescapable amid the player banter as well.
Odor and Bautista were both ejected from the 7-6 Texas win, as were Steve Buechele, Donaldson, DeMarlo Hale and Jesse Chavez, per Major League Baseball on Twitter.
“For me it was a pretty hard slide”, Odor said. I just tried to send a message that I didn’t appreciate getting hit.
From beanballs and late slides to flying fists and cleared benches, there’s a lot to break down from Sunday’s bench-clearing brawl. “We’ve played seven games…the other 29 teams out there, if they have an issue with you, they come at you right away”. “I understand there’s a passion in this game but, you know, if somebody ends their career by being in a middle of a scrum … it’s a waste of a career and possibly a life”.
“Odor also dropped his arm on that play to possible hit @JoeyBats19 in the face”, retired All-Star outfielder Torii Hunter tweeted.
Bautista did not speak to reporters before Monday’s game, but manager John Gibbons said he felt it was inappropriate for the Rangers to wait until the eighth inning of the season finale against Toronto to hit Bautista with a pitch. I’m not a fan of it, because I’m more concerned about the game.
Bautista’s emphatic bat flip in a contentious Game 5 had delayed consequences; Bautista was drilled by a pitch Sunday and responded with an aggressive slide into Odor at second base. “Without being there I want to reserve a little bit of judgment”.
But all the attention was on second base as Odor and Bautista argued.
Hall of Famer Joe Morgan knows that for more than a century, baseball players have policed themselves.
“I don’t hear nothing”, Odor said.
The Yankees’ clubhouse is no different from, presumably, just about every other team’s in baseball. “You saw what happened”.
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Marte batted. 369 on the Pirates’ just-completed nine-game homestand to increase his season batting average to. They like their club. “Besides that, I’m not going to start looking too deep into it. That’s stuff that happened a year ago; I’ve got too much positive stuff to focus on now”.
