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Odor: Perhaps Bautista was wrong, perhaps I was

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

It was the punch heard around the world, and the one that made Rougned Odor famous.

Less than a year after the scrappy Texas Rangers second baseman tore up the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Division Series, he became public enemy No .1 for a completely different reason.

The public perception of Odor has been negative after his haymaker to Jose Bautista's jaw spurred a huge brawl, but he believes the events that transpired between them are a two-way street.

"Perhaps he was wrong, and perhaps I was also wrong," Odor told ESPN's Marly Rivera. "People who don't know baseball may have a bad impression of me, but people who know baseball do know that those things are a part of the game."

His stance is a lot softer than Bautista's in his one-on-one interview with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci.

Bautista accused Odor of throwing at his head on the ensuing double-play turn from third baseman Adrian Beltre. He also explained that although he intentionally slid through the bag late, he didn't hurt Odor because he didn't try to, not because he missed.

The way Odor see's it, though, he was just defending himself from a potentially career-altering injury.

"I was just trying to protect my body, to protect myself," he said. "He slid into me, hard. Thank God nothing happened. But what if I had broken a leg or an ankle or something like what happened to Ruben Tejada? I was in the same situation."

Odor added that Beltre made sure to keep him grounded after the incident, foreshadowing the fact he was going to take a lot of heat from the media. Although Odor believes the way he's viewed is unfair, he admits there's nothing he can do about it.

"It's out of my hands. I can't do anything about that," he said. "If they wanted to bring that to light now way after it happened, then go ahead. I have nothing to hide."

Odor was suspended seven games for his role in the melee, while Bautista was handed a one-game ban.

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