Rodriguez’s last game of the 2015 season, you might recall, was an exciting NL Wild Card Game, with the Bucs taking on the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Despite starting at first base, however, Rodriguez didn’t take a single at bat in the game, as he was pinch hit for by Pedro Alvarez in the bottom of the third inning. Perhaps that was unsettling for him.
Jake Arrieta, pitching for the Cubs, was cruising through the Pirates lineup, until the fifth and sixth inning, when he plunked both Francisco Cervelli and Josh Harrison of the Pirates. With stakes as high as the could get and tensions rising, Arrieta was promptly returned the favor in the seventh inning and the benches cleared:
Sean Rodriguez was especially fired up, and was ultimately chocked by the Cubs backup catcher, David Ross. Here’s what Ross had to say:
David Ross said his hand did go around Sean Rodriguez's neck, though he said it was accidental. He addressed it: pic.twitter.com/ABXpVeZcuP
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 8, 2015
Things were tense, things were serious, and, for a second, baseball wasn’t fun. After getting ejected, Rodriguez went back to the Pirates dugout and took out some, eh hem, rage on the nearest water cooler.
But you came to this site for a reason, there’s always something fun about baseball, and ultimately, Sean Rodriguez’s pain turned into our gain.
Here’s some of his boxing match against the cooler, with a hilarious twist:
So, in the end, everyone won that night. Rodriguez took home the featherweight belt and the Cubs went on to the NLCS. Win, win.