Royals MLB: Jose Bautista, Rougned Odor Brawl About Colliding Cultures

Rougned Odor Punched Jose Bautista To Enforce Tradition

Dial the clock forward to Sunday, May 15, 2016, and the Blue Jays and Rangers were facing one another with a whole lot of unresolved baggage from last season. Bautista slams into Texas second baseman Rougned Odor in order to bust up a double play after getting drilled by a 98 mph pitch from reliever Matt Bush. Umpires ruled Bautista’s slide violated recently instituted rules to protect middle-infielders and called both runners out.

Of course, that ruling was only an afterthought because Odor and Bautista threw punches at second base, with Odor clocking Bautista with one of the cleanest shots anyone has ever seen in a baseball fight, which usually end up little more than push-and-shove affairs.

Notice in the photo above that Odor didn’t punch Michael Saunders for a similar slide earlier in the game. Below you can see what happened when Bautista pretty much did the same thing:

Yeah. I’m betting that Texas pitcher Matt Bush and second baseman Rougned Odor are pretty popular guys in the Rangers clubhouse after putting it to Jose Bautista on Sunday. And the reason has nothing to do with Bautista’s hard slide.

But, all of this bad blood is rooted in the baseball cultural idea that Bautista’s demonstration in the ALDS was disrespectful to the Texas Rangers. In the end, this entire brawl was about enforcing robotic behavior from players in the biggest moments in order to respect the opponent.

Does football do this? What about soccer? In the game the rest of the world calls football, players tear off their shirts and run around the stadium as announcers scream, “Goooooooaaaaal”. Notice that soccer is a growing game in America that appeals to youth.

Young people regularly dismiss baseball as: “Boring.”

Notice also that teams score less in soccer than in baseball.

Fans attend professional sporting events for an emotional experience that transcends their work-a-day realities. In response, MLB culture demands players do everything they can to keeps from showing fans they share their emotion.

Could it be that this culture prevents fans from bonding with the players on the field in the most passionate moments of the sport? Could this be why young fans say baseball is boring?

Twenty-three year old Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper thinks so.

The defending National League MVP Harper wore a “Make Baseball Fun Again” hat for the Washington Nationals on opening day, after telling ESPN the Magazine this winter that he wanted to change baseball forever by adding more flair to the game.

Yesterday, Rougned Odor and Matt Bush struck a blow against the change that Bryce Harper wants to bring to the game. Yes, the Rangers/Blue Jays brawl had plenty of flair. Yes, we’re all talking about it the next day. But, behind all the shouting, is the reality that Odor’s punch-out of Bautista was all about SUPRESSING flair.

Odor’s ultimate message to Bautista, and every other hitter, was to enforce the rules that demand robotic behavior after the biggest plays of the game.

Young people regularly dismiss baseball as: “Boring.”

Baseball purists may not like it, but the game has a big problem. Though flush with more money than ever before, the average baseball TV viewer is 55 years old. Only six percent of viewers are under age 18. That tells you that the good times for the game aren’t going to last much longer unless something changes.

The line that KC Royals manager Ned Yost was talking about last fall, needs to move.

 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has an opportunity to create such a change. He can send a stern message that such enforcement of old-guard rules isn’t going to be tolerated. Manfred can slam Rougned Odor with a 50 game penalty similar to KC Royals prospect Raul Mondesi‘s inadvertent PED-use ban. He also needs to issue suspensions to pitcher Matt Bush, and yes, a milder one to Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista.

Any penalty less than a month for Odor would support the old-guard’s cultural demands that are choking the growth of the sport.

Rob Manfred needs to act in the best interests of his game and allow the Bryce Harper generation to make this game their own.

Next: KC Royals Series Preview: Red Hot Boston Comes To Town

No matter what traditionalists think.