Atlanta Braves: Pascual Perez and one wild base-brawl
Pascual Perez was an eccentric and erratic pitcher and his exuberance got the best of him one night in Atlanta when he forgot he had to bat.
Pascual Perez rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Whether it was him pointing his thumb and finger, like he was holding a gun at hitters after striking them out, or running off the field after securing the third out of an inning, Perez didn’t have too many fans in opposing players.
Paying customers, yes, they loved Pascual Perez. He interjected a lot of enthusiasm into his trade and brought excitement to the mound every time he pitched. Early in his career, Perez had some issues with cocaine, so after he kicked the habit fans thought of him as a bit of a good-will story. Good for the game of baseball.
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On August 12, 1984, the San Diego Padres didn’t think Pascual Perez was good for baseball. While pitching for the Atlanta Braves, Perez was a target for the entire Padres pitching staff. After numerous attempts to hit Perez with a pitch while he was batting, they finally succeeded, in what would become one of baseball’s most famous brawls.
It’s hard to know if there was a grudge held between the two sides previous to this game. Perez earned a no-decision against the Padres earlier in the year after giving up five runs in five innings in a game he didn’t hit a batter.
To lead off the game on August 12th though, Perez plunked Alan Wiggins with the first pitch of and the Padres team photo took exception.
When Perez batted for the first time Ed Whitson threw the first pitch behind him. In his next at-bat, Perez had to dodge three balls low and in, which caused Whitson to be ejected. Greg Booker faced Perez his next time to the plate and ran him off the plate, which got Booker tossed. Finally, in his fourth at-bat, Craig Lefferts gets the job done by nailing Perez in the elbow.
Perez can be seen in video stepping out as Lefferts delivers, but didn’t matter, the pitch was way inside and hit its target. The melee is on, with the Braves rushing out from the dugout.
Throughout the course of the brawl, several small skirmishes break out. 38-year-old Champ Summers (what a name and hair style to match) who wasn’t even in the game, seems the most heated and chases down Perez, who retreats to the clubhouse.
At one point a fan in yellow golf pants and a polo jumps into the fracas to go after Summers. He’s escorted off by police, along with a handful of other Fulton County Stadium yokels who joined the rhubarb.
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The Braves got Perez out of the game and replaced him with Donnie Moore. And for good measure, Moore hit the first Padre he faced in the following inning. Cooler heads would prevail and the final outs collected to put this donnybrook in the books for good.