Why Rougned Odor still enjoys the boos from Toronto Blue Jays fans
Toronto Blue Jays fans still love to hate Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor.
And Odor still loves to be hated.
Odor is still booed lustily by Jays fans, presumably for his famous punch of Jose Bautista in May 2016.
After hitting a rather meaningless home run in the seventh inning that cut the Rangers’ deficit to 17-4, Odor trotted slower than normal around the bases and enjoyed soaking in the boos and jeers coming from the Rogers Centre crowd.
After touching home, he slowly strutted back to the dugout while demonstratively chewing gum.
“I was enjoying it, enjoying the fans,” said Odor, who had two hits in Monday’s loss. “They’re really loud. They were talking trash to me. That’s normal here. They yell at me, tell me a lot of bad things, a lot of good things. I listen to what they say.”
Odor genuinely enjoys it because it reminds him of the raucous and vocal crowds while playing winter ball in Venezuela.
“That means they’re watching me a lot. It’s fun,” said Odor, who claims Venezuelan fans are much meaner than Canadians. “I love to play here. For me, this is one of the louder stadiums. I love to play in loud stadiums.”
Manager Chris Woodward, who played for the Blue Jays from 1999-2004 and in 2011, said some of the fans were getting pretty hostile Monday night.
“Some guys really don’t like it. Some guys love it,” Woodward said. “In Rougie’s case, I think he really likes it. He likes the excitable environment. It’s like a playoff environment.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2019 at 5:49 PM.
