The greatest moment in baseball since the 2015 World Series

[Eleazar]

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The Raptors are a horribly run team undeserving of my support. LeBron James is a legend of the game deserving of my respect.

I can't argue with that. Although I am disappointed in you not tying yourself to Canada. She'd do the same for you.

Who's your NBA team then?

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Who's your NBA team then?

Anybody that LeBron plays for or anybody that is playing Golden State generally. I'm still a Raptors fan overall, though, I just wish they would be going in a different direction in terms of management/player personnel.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Anybody that LeBron plays for or anybody that is playing Golden State generally. I'm still a Raptors fan overall, though, I just wish they would be going in a different direction in terms of management/player personnel.

Not a Curry fan?

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Not a Curry fan?

Not a Draymond fan would be more accurate. I'm indifferent to Curry, though amazed by his shooting like everyone else.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Not a Draymond fan would be more accurate. I'm indifferent to Curry, though amazed by his shooting like everyone else.

Forgot about Dramond and that goddamned Spartan team.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by Cochise

Toronto Sun: Jays' Bautista had it coming
By Don Brennan


Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman has proven that even the best control pitchers can miss the mark — or that even a recent graduate of Duke University can use the wrong word in trying to express his feelings.

Stroman should have pulled out a thesaurus when he tweeted about his lack of “respect” for Rougned Odor not long after the Rangers second baseman delivered the hardest punch baseball has seen in years to the jaw of Jose Bautista on Sunday afternoon.

Stroman could have called Odor an idiot. He could have screamed for justice, stressed that he was furious or even labelled the right hook a cheap shot.

But suggesting it was disrespectful was wrong. The truth is, what Odor did was very honest and forthright and should have gained some respect for both himself and the game of baseball.

Odor didn’t bother with subtleties. He didn’t send a message that could have possibly been misinterpreted, like, oh, a pitcher who plunks a batter or a baserunner who takes out a middle infielder. He left no doubt about the intent of his actions and, refreshingly, he made his point like a hockey player would make his.

He also gave Bautista exactly what the prima donna deserved.

Hey, I like “Joey Bats” the ball player. He’s one of the best in the game. But quite often, by his actions and by his words, it sure looks and sounds like Bautista is all about Bautista.

The incident that started the Jays-Rangers feud is only one example: The famous bat flip.

A team-first player would have hustled around the basepaths to celebrate his dramatic home run against Texas in last year’s playoffs with his teammates.

Given the magnitude of the shot, Bautista might have even been excused for throwing his arms in the air and jumping up and down, or maybe savouring the moment with a slightly slower than usual trot around the bags.

Instead, he wore a menacing look on his face as he posed for a “look at me” moment while tossing his bat high and in the direction of the Rangers dugout. Odor and about 25 of his friends surely wanted to pop Bautista right then, as did the purists of the game.

In baseball, that kind of taunting is just not done without ramifications. Such behaviour, intentional or not, warrants payback at some point. Bautista knew it. He would have even called for it himself if, say, Prince Fielder had done that to the Blue Jays.

But when he finally got hit in the ribs with a pitch, in his last at bat in the last game of the last series between the teams a season later, Bautista yelled at the umpire and plotted his own revenge.

The chance presented itself when Odor tried to turn a double play moments later.

Earlier this season, Bautista cost Toronto a game against Tampa by disregarding new Rule 6.01 (j) and making an illegal slide. If he was unsure before, he now knows what he can and can’t do.

And despite the fact the Blue Jays trailed the Rangers by one, he decided to “send a message” to Odor, caring not that it would result in an automatic double play.

Bautista’s hard slide at Odor and past the bag was selfish, plain and simple. What he did after it was just dumb.

It’s well known Odor is one of the few players in baseball who will actually throw serious punches in a fight. Apparently, Bautista didn’t get the memo.

When he got to his feet, he walked toward Odor, his hands by his side, interested in only getting his face, pretending to be a tough guy.

Odor doesn’t pretend.

In fact, Bautista was lucky Odor still had a glove on his left hand, or the hard right would have turned into a 1-2 combination that could have really done a number on Blue Jays diva.

From there, the baseball fight turned into what baseball fights almost always are — a lot of hugging, guys holding other guys back and some chirping. In other words, an embarrassing waste of time.

It’s a shame Odor will most surely be hit with the heaviest suspension when it was Bautista who ignited this dust up in the Lone Star State.

If he did anything disrespectful, it was his apparent attempt to hit Bautista with his throw toward first. But it’s difficult to prove that was his intent.

In the end, Odor settled the score the way scores should be settled, the way hockey players do.

When the two teams meet again next season, Bautista will likely be elsewhere, collecting a big salary on a contract that is too long to give a 36 year old.

Meanwhile, Stroman will have a chance to plunk Odor, but if he does, he better be prepared for what follows.

So the Blue Jays blog I posted earlier and the Toronto Sun both have articles about what a douche Bautista is, and KC Connection still doesn't get it.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

So the Blue Jays blog I posted earlier and the Toronto Sun both have articles about what a douche Bautista is, and KC Connection still doesn't get it.

Brennan is a well known troll columnist on that shitty tabloid, although this is the first time I recall that he's ever written about baseball instead of hockey. Probably got a ton of page hits today with that trash from Jays fans, so he did his job well for the Sun.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Forgot about Dramond and that goddamned Spartan team.

Yeah, Draymond has gotten much more hateable since his Spartan days. Also become one of the best players in the league too, so it's working for him.

[wazu]

Does anybody remember which game it was last year when I think it was Goins was backpedaling and sort of called for a ball that probably shouldn't have been his, but he thought he heard Bautista call him off (which he should have), and so it ended up dropping between them? Afterwards Jose made a big show of body language to make sure the world knew it wasn't his fault.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by wazu

Does anybody remember which game it was last year when I think it was Goins was backpedaling and sort of called for a ball that probably shouldn't have been his, but he thought he heard Bautista call him off (which he should have), and so it ended up dropping between them? Afterwards Jose made a big show of body language to make sure the world knew it wasn't his fault.

ALCS game 2

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by wazu

Does anybody remember which game it was last year when I think it was Goins was backpedaling and sort of called for a ball that probably shouldn't have been his, but he thought he heard Bautista call him off (which he should have), and so it ended up dropping between them? Afterwards Jose made a big show of body language to make sure the world knew it wasn't his fault.

If you're going to blame anybody on the Jays for that unfortunately, it would have to be Goins. He called Bautista off the ball like he'd done dozens of times during the season (he's a far better defender at this point than Bautista who is essentially a DH playing the OF at this stage of his career), but then backed off from it at the last second. Hadn't seen him do anything like that before on a pop up, nor have I seen it since.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by thurman merman

ALCS game 2

He also threw Goins under the bus in the postgame. Real team player, that Joey Bats.

[Pablo]

Does anyone remember who won the ALCS and then the WS?

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Does anyone remember who won the ALCS and then the WS?

"The Royals may have won but they're all on steroids and Jose Bautista batted 1.000 in the series and he was a very nice man." - KC Connection

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

He also threw Goins under the bus in the postgame. Real team player, that Joey Bats.

He did no such thing, but the media certainly enjoyed pushing that particular narrative for a day or two there.