In the white corner, in red trunks with blue trim, meet Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Gil Lebreton.
Lebreton.
In the black corner, wearing blue trunks and possessing a face suited for an old West Wanted poster, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista.
Boo-tista.
As one might expect, Lebreton weighed in on the brouhaha that occurred Sunday at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.
That's what columnists do.
And as one might expect, Lebreton sided with the home team in the matter of Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor vs. Bautista.
It's called self-preservation.
If you follow baseball, you already know what happened in the eighth inning of the Rangers' 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays.
Rangers reliever Matt Bush hit Bautista in the elbow with a 97 mph fastball, in apparent retaliation for Bautista disrespecting the Rangers and their fans for flipping his bat after a tiebreaking home run in the deciding game of last year's American League Division Series.
On Sunday, Bautista angrily took first base, then attempted to take out Odor at second after a groundball to shortstop, and everybody dropped their gloves and charged to the middle of the field.
Odor landed a solid right that rocked Bautista, but didn't send him to the ground.
Let's allow Lebreton to take it from there:
"It's not as if Rougned Odor sucker-punched the mayor."
Rangers fans roar.
"Odor formed a perfect fist with his right hand and delivered The Baseball Punch to End All Baseball Punches, striking Toronto's Jose Bautista on the jaw with a directness that resonated with both retribution and justice."
Rangers fans roar for more.
"Film at 11. Film at 7 in the morning, too. Film on the MLB Network forever, probably, because this was baseball theater at its best.
"When they parted last October, the Rangers and the Blue Jays had not agreed to exchange Christmas gifts. The bottle-throwing Toronto crowd and Bautista's ensuing, over-the-top, series-clinching bat flip seared a bitter memory into the Rangers' hearts."
More, more.
"A case could be made that after drilling Bautista, the account was squared. The bat flip and all the playoff yapping had been answered.
"But when Justin Smoak followed with a would-be double-play grounder, Bautista decided that he needed to get in a last word.
"Bautista punctuated his dirty slide with an apparent pointed epithet for Odor who, not one to retreat, pushed Bautista hard with both hands. As Bautista readied his own fist, Odor beat him to the draw with a Manny Pacquiao-caliber right hand."
Bautista, stealing a line from Robert De Niro when his Jake LaMotta character is demolished by Sugar Ray Robinson in Raging Bull, conceded he got hit, but pointed out that it takes a bigger man than Odor to take him down.
"It was brave talk," Lebreton wrote. "But the judges would have scored it a TKO in favor of Odor."
No contest.
Sports on 05/17/2016