Elvis Andrus Took One In The Ribs For Rougned Odor Walk-Off Celebration On Tuesday Night
A little back story here, in case you missed it. On Tuesday night, noted psychopath Rougned Odor hit a walk-off home run against the Mariners, pimped it out of the box, and Rangers manager Jeff Banister came storming out of the dugout so that he could fist pump like Tiger Woods at the 2005 Masters, and then pick Odor up like he was about to give him a suplex, but then changed his mind halfway through.
When I wrote about the walk-off, I made the focal point about the pimp job out of the box, which I appreciated, and the Rangers’ historic record in one-run games this season. What I didn’t touch on at all, was whether or not the pimp job, or the subsequent celebration, would have any ramifications later on. One Stoolie suggested that it was hypocritical of Odor to pimp his home run after punching Jose Bautista in the face for his bat-flip last October. Can I address that for a second? Because I think that’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard.
First of all, Odor didn’t punch Bautista in the face for his home run. It was a butterfly effect. Bautista flipped his bat last year, so the Rangers threw at Bautista this year, and to get even for getting drilled, Bautista went in with a dirty slide on Odor, and he got punched in the face for it. Bautista’s bat-flip directly led to getting punched in the face by Odor, sure, but the actual reason why he got punched in the face was because of his slide. So, no. Odor’s not a hypocrite for pimping his walk-off home run.
Plus, even if Odor did punch Bautista for the bat-flip, do you think that these two home run celebrations are even remotely comparable?
I feel like I have to mention this again, but I was one thousand percent in favor of Bautista’s bat-flip. My point is just that Odor isn’t a hypocrite for pimping his home run, because he slugged Bautista in the face for something completely different, and his celebration wasn’t even in the same galaxy as what Bautista did.
Now, the other question that needs to be asked here is, did the Rangers deserve this retaliation from the Mariners? The answer to that is fuck no. Quit being little babies, Seattle. They’re just mad at themselves more than anything else. They had to watch the Rangers dance on their graves the night before, they’re free-falling in the Wild Card standings after being passed by both the Royals and the Yankees, and they were getting smoked 10-0 in the seventh inning when they threw at Andrus.
It was a 3-1 pitch, so obviously it was intentional. Was the Rangers’ celebration excessive on Tuesday night? There’s no such thing as an excessive celebration this time of year. Teams are fighting for postseason spots, and emotions are riding high. Just shut up and let it happen. That’s what the fans want to see, more emotion. I just think the Mariners are frustrated at themselves, and they took it out on the team that was continuing to drive a stake into their postseason hopes and dreams. It was a Bush League move to throw at Andrus. There’s no shame in getting smoked by the best team in the American League, and that’s exactly what the Texas Rangers are.