Nowitzki & Odor Pose For Silly Punch Picture
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A pair of North Texas sports legends were together for some friendly bro time on Thursday, as Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki and Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor posed for an amusing photograph at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Nowitzki posted the picture on his Twitter page, showing the two guys recreating the epic baseball brawl between the Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays last month. That's the fight where Odor clocked Toronto outfielder Jose Bautista in the jaw as both benches cleared and the baseball game turned into a boxing match.
Odor was suspended for eight games after the big fight. That penalty was lowered by one game after an appeal. He is currently in the middle of that suspension, as the Rangers return to Arlington for a weekend series against the Seattle Mariners and four weekday games against the Houston Astros. Bautista was given only a one-game suspension.
The brutal punch catapulted Odor's notoriety around the MLB and turned him into a hero amongst many Rangers fans. These tensions started during last season's playoffs, when Bautista flipped his bat high into the air upon hitting a massive home run that would eventually seal the series for Toronto.
It was during Bautista's final at-bat in Arlington this season that Rangers pitcher Matt Bush pegged the Blue Jays slugger with a ball and put him on first base. While running toward second base, Bautista (admittedly) slid late in an attempt to break up a possible double play. It was ruled an illegal slide, but only after Odor threw the infamous punch.
Bautista later told a sports reporter that Odor was "looking for a fight" that day, adding that he could have injured the Rangers second baseman with his dirty slide, but he opted to not cause an injury. A similar slide last season from Los Angeles Dodgers player Chase Utley broke the leg of New York Mets second baseman Ruben Tejada. The controversial play forced to the MLB to change its slide rules in order to prevent such dangerous collisions.
