Miami Marlins, Cincinnati Reds Engage in Minor League Brawl
Minor leaguers for the Miami Marlins and Cincinnati Reds had a big time brawl in a Class A game in Daytona Beach, Florida at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Baseball fights are usually little more than a few shoves and some angry shouting. Most fights start with a pitch that “gets away” from the pitcher and either hits or comes a little too close to the batter. The batter will charge the mound and, if he even gets there, will swing wildly at the pitcher. The pitcher may duck or swing wildly back. Sometimes they’ll make contact, sometimes they’ll miss, often times the fight turns into a wrestling match and both players end up on the ground.
Teammates from both sides come in and there’s a big mass of bodies. Out in the bullpen, pitchers will look up from their sunflower seed spitting contest and meander toward the field. They generally aren’t all that interested in actually fighting, but they have to look like they are.
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Recently, there was an actual fight in a Class A game in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was a melee, a ruckus, an old fashioned donnybrook. The Daytona Tortugas were hosting the Jupiter Hammerheads and trailed 5-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. The teams had scuffled the previous day when the benches cleared, but it was nothing like what was about to happen.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Gavin LaValley was hit by a pitch. Tortugas manager Eli Marrero began yelling at the umpire, which brought out Hammerheads manager Randy Ready. The two managers squared off and Marrero threw a punch at Ready. That started the royal rumble.
In this fight, instead of pushes and shoves, there were punches thrown. The two managers started fighting in front of the first base dugout, which brought players from both teams onto the field to form a big group. Then, like sparks from a forest fire, scraps broke out all around the mob. The big mess of players divided into smaller groups, with one-on-one fights being fought right next to the stands by the dugout, near first base, and in the middle of the infield.
As fate would have it, this happened on “Camp Day” at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, which meant there were nearly 1,500 fans at the afternoon game. Many of the fans in the stands were elementary school age kids from local summer camps. Some parents could be seen quickly heading for the exits with their children, but many kids stayed and cheered wildly. The public address announcer tried to liven the mood by playing “Glad You Came” by The Wanted as the players exchanged blows.
According to the Dayton News-Journal, the fighting lasted around three minutes and it took another 20 minutes to sort out the ejections before play resumed. The managers and players were unavailable for comment after the game.
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It was ironic that this brouhaha occurred at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era, was under strict rules NOT to fight back early in his MLB career.
He put up with all sorts of abuse on the diamond, everything from name-calling to pitches up and in, to players coming into second base with spikes high, but he had to endure it without coming to blows. With all that he put up with, he probably would have liked to let off some steam every now and then.