Odor never wants to think about Bautista punch again

One year removed from throwing a right hook at the jaw of Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor is trying to separate himself from the event as much as possible.

"It was part of the game," Odor said, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. "But it's in the past and it's something I never want to think about."

Odor punched Bautista on May 15, 2016 following a collision at second base after Bautista slid in trying to break up a double play. It's believed that Odor and the Rangers were still irked by Bautista's bat flip during the two teams' playoff series the year before, and frustrations boiled over in their second and final regular-season series the following year.

Major League Baseball issued an eight-game suspension to Odor that was reduced to seven following an appeal, while Bautista received a one-game suspension.

In the weeks following the altercation, Odor was scheduled to hold an autograph session at a local memorabilia store in which photos of the punch would sell for $99. Odor eventually called it off due to the optics, however, and told Grant that he's never autographed a single image of the punch and never will.

"He knew it was a reaction he wasn't proud of," teammate Elvis Andrus said to Grant. "He knows it was violent. He just wants to turn the page. But I think he also knows how hard that is."