Tonight the Toronto Blue Jays
and the Texas Rangers play for the first time in 2016. But hey, does everyone
remember this?
Yup, it was Game 5 of the ALDS
last October when the Toronto Blue Jays made a remarkable comeback after being
down two games to none to the Texas Rangers. And the home run came to cap off a
dramatic seventh inning that saw the Jays soar into lead after the Rangers had
scored a cheap run in the top half of the inning.
And yes, the run should not have
counted regardless of what Fox Broadcaster Harold Reynolds said. It was
interference. Inadvertent or not, it was still interference. If a batter drops
a bunt down and races to first, if he’s inside the line rather than outside of
it and gets hit in the back by the catcher or pitcher trying to make the throw
for the putout, the batter is out. It doesn’t matter if he knew he was on the
wrong side of the base path or not, he’s out. So why should the catcher’s throw
hitting the bat be any different.
But it doesn’t matter, Toronto
came back and won. Texas let their opportunity slip away and rather than look
inwardly at their inability to win the series, they instead chose to vent their
frustration at Jose Bautista and his bat flip. The pitching staff giving up 19
runs in three games, or the three errors the Rangers defense committed in that
final game should have been the focus of their frustrations, not Jose Bautista.
First of all, let’s look at the
bat flip. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Bautista didn’t stare down the
pitcher. He didn’t glare into the Ranger dugout. He didn’t say anything
insulting to the catcher as he left the batter’s box. He just admired his bomb
of a home run in a clutch situation in a series-deciding game. He was in the
moment, he responded, he celebrated. No big deal.
Secondly, the Rangers have no
right to criticize Bautista for admiring his home run when their own designated
hitter, Prince Fielder, does the same thing. Players have been admiring monster
shots for years. Again, no big deal.
But here’s my favourite part of
the whole thing. Rangers’ pitcher Derek Holland (who by the way in his only
start in the series gave up six runs in two innings for a wonderful,
mountain-top ERA of 27.00) started whining to a Dallas radio station following
the game. Some of things he said were, “He's the most animated player I've ever
seen. After watching him in the outfield cry about every single thing, it's
unbelievable.” And, “Especially after seeing more about him during the game,
and being out in the outfield and seeing how he complains about every single
thing.” And let’s not forget, “it's always his way. I just don't like that. I'm
not a big fan of him.”
This from a guy who’s claim to
fame (other than his 5.02 career postseason ERA) is a pitifully lame Arnold
Schwarzenegger impression during the 2011 World Series, which by the way Texas
lost. Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of him.
So what can we expect from the
Jays and Rangers for this three-game set. Payback? Retribution? Revenge? I’m
sure we can expect to see someone from the Rangers’ pitching staff throw at
Bautista. Maybe not tonight and maybe not this series but it will happen
sometime this year. But seriously, there’s no way that will make up for the
Rangers coughing up a two-game lead in the playoffs. They need to just get over
it, accept that they were beaten by a better team and not blame Bautista for
their short-comings.
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