MLB: Top 5 Baseball Brawls Last 20 Years
Baseball doesn’t give us fights all that often, but when they happen, they’re certainly memorable. Here are the top five brawls over the last twenty years in the MLB.
Ever since Rougned Odor of the Texas Rangers delivered one of the cleanest punches in baseball history on Sunday, it’s drawn major publicity to the MLB. Whether it’s for better or for worse, people are talking about it. While Odor gave Jose Bautista a really good shot, it wasn’t a great baseball brawl.
Not many punches were thrown after the one on Bautista and Adrian Beltre, who was on the opposing team, was holding up Joey Bats making sure he didn’t fall down like a ton of bricks because he was out on his feet – these things don’t happen in a good old fashioned brawl.
You know it’s a good one when an altercation spills into the dugout, or when there’s five or six separate fights all happening at once. The real tell tale sign of a good brawl is when you think it’s finally over but then the camera shifts to another two players going at it, and the whole situation is re-ignited.
Over the past twenty year’s there have been some epic throw downs between players, coaches and sometimes fans. These things don’t happen often in baseball, but when they do, they need to be analyzed and slideshows need to be made.
Next: Tigers-Sox
5. 2000 Chicago White Sox vs. Detroit Tigers
With Detroit down five-one in the bottom of the sixth inning and the bases full of White Sox, Jeff Weaver decided that this game was over and it was time to hit someone. He drilled Carlos Lee in the back with the bases loaded so there was definitely intent. Some words were exchanged between the two, and then Weaver was taken out of the game. Here’s where things start to get ugly fast…
The White Sox wasted no time in getting retaliation. The very first pitch in the top of the seventh inning hit Dean Palmer in the arm, and all hell breaks loose. Palmer charges the mound with his helmet in his hands, and decides to throw it at pitcher Jim Parque right before wrestling him down to the ground.
Benches and bullpens both clear and the scrum is in full effect. Bobby Higginson delivers the blow of the night with a flying right elbow to Parque’s face at the forty second mark. This was as clean of an elbow as you’ll see in the sport, but a cheap shot nonetheless.
“Bottom line is, we won the game and we killed them,” said Chicago pitcher Jim Parque, who was charged by Dean Palmer in the seventh inning to start the fighting. “I hope they have enough guys so we can beat them again.”
As soon as you think this fight is over, it isn’t. All parties charge into right field around the forty-six second mark which looked like a scene out of the Kentucky Derby where the gates open and the horses take off. The only difference is that there were no gates and instead of horses, we had angry ball-players. This brawl seems to go on forever with another benches clearing incident in the next inning.
When all was said and done, there were eleven total ejections, and relief pitcher Keith Foulke needed five stitches under his eye.
Next: Yankees-Sox
4. 2003 ALCS New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
While this fight may not have had the action that number five on this list had, the magnitude of the situation elevates this brawl. Players, coaches, and fans were all involved in this epic showdown. This was the height of the Yankees’ Red Sox rivalry with Boston still under the curse of the Bambino, and it was the American League Championship series.
The stage was set with the two most fiery starting pitchers on the mound in Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez. Clemens and Martinez were not new to benches clearing brawls, and had both been front and center in prior altercations. Pedro charged the mound once when pitching for the Montreal Expos, and Clemens threw a broken bat at Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series. These two men were not going to back down if things got out of hand- and that’s exactly what happened.
Pedro threw a fastball off of Karim Garcia’s back and then pointed at the Yankees’ dugout saying “watch your head”. The very next inning, Clemens went high and tight on Manny Ramirez and it was on. Benches and bullpens emptied right away, but 72 year-old Don Zimmer was the quickest of them all.
Zimmer charged Pedro Martinez with both hands, and Pedro threw the old man to the ground. The fight almost lost all momentum at that moment because Pedro did the unthinkable. Players and coaches were shocked at what just happened. Once an elderly man like Don Zimmer goes down, the fight’s over.
Zimmer, who had long been irritated by Martinez’s provocative behavior, saw his chance. “I said to myself, ‘Where’s Pedro?’” he remembered. “This is my one shot to take a swipe at him.”
While this brawl was short lived, it didn’t end on the diamond. In the ninth inning, a fan jumped into the bullpen and challenged relief pitcher, Tanyn Sturtz. Luckily the situation was diffused quick enough to where no one was seriously injured.
Once the dust settled, the league dished out fines all around: $50,000 to Martinez, $25,000 to Ramirez, $10,000 to Garcia and $5,000 to Zimmer.
Next: Cubs-sox
3. 2006 Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox
This brawl between the Cubs and White Sox comes in at number three on the list because of the explosiveness of the situation. In terms of length, it was a short brawl, but the amount of quality punches thrown and landed in the limited amount of time that was given is incredible.
Everything started with a good, hard play by A.J. Pierzynski scoring from third base on a tag-up. Pierzynski railroaded Cubs’ catcher, Michael Barrett and slapped home plate on his way out. Barrett obviously wasn’t happy about getting run over by Pierzynski and it looked like both gentlemen exchanged a few words before the big blow was thrown.
Barrett connected with a hook to Pierzynskis head and it was a good one. This right cross from Barrett is up there with Odor’s shot on Bautista, he got him clean. Following the punch, things started happening very quickly. Scott Podsednick, who was in the on deck circle, tackled the Cubs’ catcher and held him down while others piled on top. About twenty feet to the left, there was another pile up with huge haymakers being thrown by White Sox center fielder Brian Anderson.
“I got sucker-punched,” Pierzynski said.”He grabbed me and said, ‘I didn’t have the ball’ and then he punched me. … I was trying to pick up my helmet. I tried to take a step around him and he grabbed me. I thought he was going to say ‘Hey, are you OK?’ And I was going to say the same thing. The words came out, I got hit and the next thing I know, all hell broke loose.”
These were no warning punches by Brian Anderson, he was swinging for the fences with every intention of a knock out. “I really can’t explain my actions. I was getting caught up trying to stick up for my teammate,” Anderson said.
Somehow, the situation was diffused within minutes. Barrett served a ten game suspension for his actions, Anderson served five games, and Pierzynski got fined $2,000.
Next: Diamondbacks-Dodgers
2. 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
This was one of the more dynamic brawls over the last twenty years because Mark McGwire was in the middle of it all. Yes, the one time single season home run champion Mark McGwire found himself in the scrum, holding Diamondback’s manager, Kirk Gibson by the shirt.
Things started to heat up when Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder, Yasiel Puig, took a fastball off the face from Ian Kennedy. Benches did not empty at this time because Kennedy had hit seven batters on the year prior to plunking Puig- he could have just been erratic. Zach Greinke then plunks an Arizona Diamondback the next inning, which cleared the benches but nothing came of it.
Greinke came up to the plate the following inning, and got beaned in the head. This opened the flood gates, and everyone lost their cool. Right off the bat punches were thrown and it’s hard to see who was connecting and who wasn’t but there was one big pile up to the right of home plate. The brawl eventually spills over into the cameraman section. Yasiel Puig was in the middle of everything, praying that someone would come his way.
“It got pretty ugly,” Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said after the game. “They came out of nowhere, just throwing punches. When everybody was trying to break it up, they just kept coming and throwing punches. It was like 25 against 72, because all the DL guys were out there, too. I guess their arms were feeling pretty good because they were throwing good punches.”
The best part about this fight was the battle between Dodgers’ hitting coach Mark Mcgwire, and Diamondbacks manager, Kirk Gibson. It was an old timer’s battle between two legends to see which one would let go of the other’s jersey first. Neither would budge. Both had too much pride to throw in the towel, and McGwire looked like he had just got done with an extreme weight training workout ready for more action.
After tempers cooled, and players were separated, suspensions and fines were undoubtedly going to be handed out. Ian Kennedy received a ten game suspension and Grienke was fined an undisclosed amount. Among others, Don Mattingly and Kirk Gibson each received one game.
Next: Yankees-Orioles
1. 1998 New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles
What took place between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees during the 1998 season should be considered the gold standard of brawls. You will not find a more eventful seven minutes of video anywhere else. From the moment Oriole’s reliever, Armando Benitez dropped his glove, you knew that this would end in nothing less than a bloodbath.
Benitez drilled Tino Martinez in between the numbers with a hard fastball with two outs in the eight inning, Yankees leading seven-five. As soon as the ball hit Tino, the Yankee’s bench was emptied with Darryl Strawberry leading the way, meeting Benitez at the mound. Yankee’s pitcher Graham Lloyd starts throwing wild hooks at Benitez, and somehow the entire brawl ends up in the dugout with Yankee’s third baseman Scott Brosius policing the brawl right on the entrance.
Tino was on fire throughout the entire fight looking for Benitez, but he couldn’t escape the three players holding him back. The scene in the dugout is one of epic proportions with announced Ken Singleton on the call: “All the action is in the dugout folks.”
”It was good to see,” Yankee’s manager Joe Torre said of his players reacting and charging the field. ”You don’t like to see fights breaking out, but as far as a response to what happened, it was good to see. ”We talked about this a lot,” Torre said of protecting batters who are hit by pitches. ”We’re a family, and you can’t have somebody pick on somebody in your family.”
Around the 4:59 minute mark, you’ll see every detail of the brawl broken down, and just how electric it was. The most effective punch of the fight was of the sucker punch variety and it belonged to Darryl Strawberry at the 6:03 mark.
Next: Rougned Odor has no regrets
As for suspensions, Benitez received eight games, Lloyd and Strawberry each got three.