Rougned Odor certainly grabbed the attention of MLB and may have caught the eye Dana White, president of the UFC.
Odor, a promising second baseman for the Texas Rangers, hit Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista flush on the jaw with a hook that would make Conor McGregor jealous. It was not a good look for baseball or Odor.
The brawl between the two teams was Sunday—the start of a tumultuous week in baseball.
It continued with the firing of Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Many came to the defense of Gonzalez, who was managing a Braves team in rebuild mode with no intention of contending this season.
But his dismissal raised greater concerns about the diversity among baseball managers. That’s a discussion that continued through the end of the week.
Commissioner Rob Manfred later expressed his concern over the increasing length of games this season. MLB has made an effort to shorten games.
And New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, once considered a rising star, has suddenly become a liability in 2016. He has a concerning 5.77 ERA and 1.655 WHIP through nine starts this season.
Brighter headlines included Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg’s continued dominance. He looks like the player many expected he would develop into when the Nationals drafted him first overall in 2010.
But this week had a negative undertone. What can we take away from a topsy-turvy Week 7?