After Sunday's brawl between the Blue Jays and Rangers in Arlington, Toronto manager John Gibbons called what happened, "ugly, unfortunate" and "gutless."
Why gutless? Well, because the Rangers waited until the last time Jose Bautista stepped to the plate in the sixth and final game the teams played this season to hit him.
Here is Gibbons elaborating on his comment:
Wednesday, Rangers manager Jeff Banister responded to the criticism, specifically that his team is gutless.
Via CBS DFW (Dallas - Fort Worth), here's what he said:
"We're far from gutless," Banister said. "There's a lot of grit and resolve and toughness and tenacity. ... I believe our guys play the game right. They run hard, they play hard, they give their fans what they pay for every single night. And that's an effort, an effort level that sometimes is not matched by other teams. In essence, if that's gutless by us, then so be it."
Also, regarding whether or not Rougned Odor is a dirty player for his punch on Bautista:
"The thing I take offense to is people who call Rougned Odor a dirty player. ... That's utterly ridiculous in my opinion and irresponsible for people to even come up with that thought or idea," Banister said. "He's a complete team player. He shows up every day to play with an intensity to win baseball games, play(s) hard for the fans, play(s) hard for his team. "
To reiterate, the two teams won't see each other again in 2016 unless it's in the playoffs. And if they meet next year, free-agent-to-be Bautista might be playing elsewhere.
Meanwhile, myriad fines and suspensions were levied in the aftermath.
