Base Brawl: Melee at the Mound

Remember when you were a kid, and two idiots got in a fight at school? What did you do? You stood there with the rest of the school and chanted "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" the whole time hoping that one of the assholes would be reduced to a pulp, and it really didn't matter which one. It's okay to admit it: you're the kind of person who watches hockey secretly hoping for gloves to be thrown and a score of players pounding the piss out of one another, or NASCAR for a fiery finish, and basketball for spectacular fouls. Violence is not acceptable in society, but on the rink, track, court, or field of combat spectator blood lust is like a disease. We're still Roman citizens watching some prisoner getting torn to shreds by a wild animal (beast or human) in the coliseum, and we love it. Baseball is no exception. Every now and then baseball moves beyond a little kicking of dirt on the umpire. Sometimes there are mound charging, dugout clearing, knock-down-drag-outs. Here is a sampling of the classics. Really, it is a lot of fun watching multi-millionaires beat the shit out of one another.

Don Zimmer v. Pedro Martinez - October 11, 2003
What Happened? Pedro Martinez had been throwing at batters during an already tense ACLS game. Zimmer charged on Martinez, who then pushed the 72 year old to the ground. Perhaps not the greatest fight of all time, but it did clear the benches, and the old man went down like a sack of potatoes. Don's face and his pride was a little bruised, but otherwise, no serious injuries were sustained. A lot of people gave Martinez crap about this, but old guy or not, the dude is huge, and was charging like a bull, what else would Pedro do? However, this was not Martinez's first incident.

Pedro Martinez v. Tampa Bay Devil Rays - August 29, 2000
Martinez likes to hit batters. It's his thing when he's pissy (at one point, he led the AL in beanded batters). In one of the most bizarre games in baseball's history, this game saw a two brawls that resulted in eight ejected Rays, a flurry of fists, some Daubach cheap shots, and two hospitalized Red Sox. The whole thing started when Martinez popped Gerald Williams on the left hand with a pitch. Williams charged the mound, almost knocked Pedro down, and then punched him. Williams was among the eight players tossed. Pedro, however, was not. Images from St. Petersburg Times

Ed Ott v. Felix Milan - August 12, 1977
What happened? Pirates Ed Ott slides hard into second, Millan yells at Ott, Ott yelled back, Millan punches him in the face. Ott then body slams Millan, injuring Millan's shoulder and ending his career. This was Millan's last game.

Jason Varitek v. A-Roid - July 2004
What Happened? A-Roid was going to charge Bronson Arroyo but Varitek jumped in his face. Literally. I'm no fan of Alex Rodriguez, but apparently Varitek fights like a girl, shoving a glove in his face. This brawl led to these two being suspended for 4 games and fined $2,000. Six others involved in the ensuing scuffle were also suspended.

From ESPN Page 2
Juan Marichal v. John Roseboro - August 22, 1965
Marichal (Giants Pitcher)had thrown a couple of deliberate pitches at some Dodgers batters when he was on the mound. Later, when he came up to bat, Dodgers catcher John Roseboro tried to knock him down from behind the plate. Marichal hit Roseboro with a bat and a 14 minute bench-clearing melee ensued.

And my favorite
Nolan Ryan v. Robin Ventura - August 4th, 1993
Nolan Ryan beans Robin Ventura with a pitch. Ventura, being 20 years his junior charged the mound believing he could sock the old man. Ryan grabbed him in a headlock, and pummeled the bejeesus out of his face before Ventura was pulled away by catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

More Baseball Fun (From ESPN)

Top Ten Baseball Fights - Watch the top videos of the week here