If it wasn't before, it's safe to say now: The Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers don't like each other very much.
Wait, scratch that. They don't like each other at all.
Ask Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, whose right fist connected squarely with Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista's jaw on Sunday, clearing the benches and reigniting a blood feud that's been simmering since last fall.
We'll get into the history and what it means going forward shortly. First, the punch:
Prior to Odor's haymaker, Bautista was tagged by a Matt Bush fastball and exchanged words with the Texas dugout as home-plate umpire Dan Iassogna issued a warning to both factions. Then came the takeout slide, then the escalating ugliness.
Some of it was expected, but the particulars surprised, as Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan opined:
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Blue Jays right-hander Jesse Chavez beaned Prince Fielder, emptying the benches again.
When the dust finally settled, Bautista, Chavez, third baseman Josh Donaldson, skipper John Gibbons and Toronto bench coach DeMarlo Hale were tossed, along with Odor—You think?—and Texas bench coach Steve Buechele. Expect suspensions and other disciplinary action to follow.
"I didn't really think it would cross their mind to do something like that but I guess it shows a little bit of their colors," Bautista told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm following the game.
Then, Joey Bats took a thinly veiled shot of his own.
"He got me pretty good so I have to give him that," Bautista said, per Chisholm. "But it takes a little bit of a bigger man, I guess, to knock me down."
After the game, Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman took to Twitter to announce he has "zero respect for Odor."
The feeling, unquestionably, is mutual.
All of this traces back to last year's American League Division Series, when the Rangers took a 2-0 series lead over the favored Jays but ultimately lost in five games.
The fatal blow was a three-run moonshot by Bautista in Game 5, which was immediately followed by the bat flip heard 'round the world:
Those theatrics may earn an A-plus at the Bryce Harper School of Making Baseball Fun, but they rubbed some folks the wrong way. Including, not surprisingly, folks wearing Rangers uniforms.
After surrendering Bautista's bat-flip-inducing blast, Texas reliever Sam Dyson said he spoke with Toronto's on-deck hitter, Edwin Encarnacion, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post.
"I told him Jose needs to calm that down, just kind of respect the game a little more," Dyson said, per Svrluga. "He's a huge role model for the younger generation that's coming up playing this game, and I mean he's doing stuff that kids do in wiffle ball games and backyard baseball. It shouldn't be done."
Dismiss that as sour grapes and stuck-in-the-past curmudgeonliness if you want. The point is, there are guys—possibly a lot of guys—in the Texas clubhouse who actively dislike Bautista.
One of them disliked him enough to respond to an illegal, but arguably not excessive, takeout slide with a skull-rattling right hook.
Surely, some in Arlington are calling it justified.
What's next?
Tellingly, the Rangers plunked Bautista in the two teams' final meeting of the regular season, something Gibbons called "gutless," per ESPN.com. So the only way this soap opera gets another episode in 2016 is if Toronto and Texas clash in the playoffs.
It's possible. At 22-16, Texas holds a slim lead in the AL West. And the Jays, at 19-20, are within striking distance in the wide-open AL East.
Not to condone brawling—which is a distraction at best and a shameful sideshow at worst—but for the fireworks and intrigue alone, it's a postseason matchup worth rooting for.
Even if Texas and Toronto don't meet until next season, we learned Sunday that resentment can survive the winter. This isn't over—bank on it.
The Blue Jays and Rangers don't like each other very much. That's safe to say, and it's not changing anytime soon.
All statistics and standings current as of May 15 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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