As most of you may have seen, there was a huge brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers. These two teams' recent battles have been filled with animosity. Here is why I think this brawl was a good thing for baseball's public image.
Our twitter feeds were bombarded with tweets, vines and memes of Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista getting punched in the face by Rangers second basemen Rougned Odor. This fight stemmed from Bautista's "bat-flip heard round the world" in last season's American League Divisional Series. Jose Bautista has always been known as a bombastic, extremely confident player and he is never afraid to express his emotions on the field.
Bautista took out Odor on a slide into second, after reaching base by getting hit by a pitch. This pitch was likely in response to Bautista's antics in last year's playoffs. Bautista and Odor then got in each other's faces Bautista shoved him and then Odor landed a right hook to his face and the benches erupted. This was a full out brawl with many players and coaches being fined. Odor was suspended for 8 games and Bautista only one game.
Personally, I think that this brawl was a good thing for Major League Baseball. By no means do I condone violence in baseball but as a fan of the game you love to see occasional fights. It shows that players still care about the game and their teammates. Odor's actions expressed how most of the Rangers players were feeling, disrespected. The emotions finally boiled over and turned into something exciting for the fans. As long as no one is injured I think the value of occasional fights in baseball is huge.
After this brawl all any major sports networks were talking about was this fight. It was all over any form of social media and will probably be talked about for months to come. Every time these two teams play each other from here on out something exciting could happen, this fight created another heated rivalry in a sport where those rarely exist anymore. People may argue that the integrity of the game has been tarnished but I disagree. Baseball is a sport that people often view as soft and boring but when fights break out it shows that players still pour their heart and soul into the game.
This brawl gave baseball some much needed public exposure at a time where it has often been viewed as soft. Players like Bryce Harper, Bautista, and Odor are enjoyable to watch because there is always some sort of flare they add to the game. Let's make baseball fun again.
