Brawling Baseball

Two major fights broke out in the major leagues on Wednesday, one in Colorado and one in Boston. We’ll start first with the Coors field affair.

The feud started earlier with Rockies reliever Scott Oberg sending Padres center fielder Manuel Margot to the DL with a pitch to the ribs. Rockies manager Bud Black said Oberg reached out to Margot after the incident but Padres manager Andy Green wasn’t having any of it.

During the first inning of next game, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story was plunked. That carried over into the second inning when Padres right fielder was hit by a pitch. On the first pitch in the third inning, the Rockies franchise player and all around guy, Nolan Arenado was thrown at. He leaned out of the way to miss the pitch aimed at his back and sprinted towards the mound. The Padres starter Luis Perdomo tried to slow up Arenado by tossing his glove at him but the effort was weak. Benches cleared, bullpens emptied, fists were thrown and players were tossed.

All in all, Perdomo and catcher AJ Ellis were ejected from the Padres and Arenado, starter German Marquez and outfielder Gerardo Parra were tossed from the Rockies side. The Rox went on to win 6-4. The bad blood might continue when they play again on April 23rd.

In Fenway, baseballs best rivalry kicked off in fine fashion as the benches cleared when Tyler Austin slide into second with his spikes up clipping Brock Holt in the calf. Although the slide was legal, spikes up is frowned upon around the league. It also sparked memories of an aggressive slide by Manny Machado as he clipped Dustin Pedroia sending him to the DL for an extended period of time. Lines were drawn in the dirt with that slide. Holt wasn’t going for the double play but didn’t get out of the way of the slide either. Take your pick.

That exchange lead to the massive brawl in the 7th when flame thrower Joe Kelly definitely made his feeling known and threw high and tight hitting Austin. Austin smashed his bat on the ground and charged the mound. Kelly was ready for him but was punished a bit in the exchange. He probably wasn’t hurt as badly as the fastball he threw into Austin’s arm. Red Sox coach Carlos Febles, Kelly and Austin were ejected for the scuffle.

I don’t mind Joe Kelly’s intentions for sticking up for his team but it could have been a much worse outcome for the BoSox. The Yankees roster is a who’s who of big dudes and as for the Redsox, not so much. It’s a no brainer who I’d take in a fight with CC Sabbathia, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on one side and Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Chris Sale on the other. Play nice, boys, or don’t. It’ll be fun to watch either way.

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