The Braves Have Cleared The Bases Plenty of Times In Their Long History, Here Are My Five Favorites
In 2017, we all watched the Bryce Harper, Hunter Strickland, Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants brawl. It was a pretty solid “brawl”. We saw punches connect, a helmet was thrown kinda close to another player (the second baseman) and an all out benches-clearing melee.
This brawl had me thinking about the history of fighting in the MLB. We don’t see benches cleared very often, but when we do it’s usually fantastic footage…and now memes, GIFs and other avenues to make fun of things.
Looking back, the Atlanta Braves have been in many confrontational moments. One that stands out in my mind could be the best fight we’ve ever seen in baseball — we’ll get to that later so stick around!
With Dale Murphy, Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox in the 90’s, Brian McCann and the youngsters in the 2000’s, and a few recent ones you may have forgotten…I’ve put together a list that I’m sure you’ll enjoy!
The Braves have been a part of more “brawls”, but if you can think of any better ones than my list, please share in the comments!
5. Braves vs. Phillies … A Memorable Night turns into a Forgettable One
June 4th, 1991 … Dale Murphy night in Atlanta.
On what should have been a pleasing night, full of memories, the Phillies had to go and ruin it.
Fans were treated to the return of their hero, Dale Murphy, who now donned a Phillies uniform. It was definitely an awkward sight.
The video is crude at best, but you can still make out what happens. Phillies pitcher, Wally Ritchie, throws at Otis Nixon, Nixon gets perturbed, Nixon charges mound … benches clear. Everyone is involved. Bullpen pitchers come racing in. EVERYONE is partaking, save for one, and you can’t see it in this video.
Murphy never left his place in left field. On this night, his night, he stayed neutral. He didn’t involve himself. I could only imagine what was going through his head, and heart.
4. Braves vs Brewers … McCann vs Gomez
September 25, 2013 … A night few cared about, but it made huge headlines
You’ll see in the video, but the Braves had very few fans show up for this Wednesday night game. It’s unfortunate because they would have seen a heck of a show. One swing of the bat and one nearly complete home run trot, Carlos Gomez ignited a series of events between these two teams.
About two months prior to this game, Braves pitcher Paul Maholm intentionally hit Gomez with a pitch. Gomez was unhappy with him there, but nothing came about it…yet.
Gomez held a grudge and came back in great fashion. His famous words were “You hit me. I hit you.”
With one out in the top of the 1st inning of a 0-0 game, Gomez crushed an 83 mph changeup. After he clearly pimped the homer, he yells at Maholm (something we’ll never know what). When he gets to first base, him and Freddie Freeman have words. When he almost gets to third base, Gomez has more words for Maholm. Then, about halfway to home plate, stands a very pissed off Brian McCann. That’s when the action began!
3. Braves vs Reds… Washington vs Soto
June 16, 1984 … Braves and Reds in Fulton County Stadium, Braves Claudell Washington was facing Mario Soto in the 5th inning.
Washington led off the game with a home run off Soto. In his second trip to the plate, Washington was knocked down by Soto with a pitch. Then, in the 5th inning, Washington got a strike, swung at the baseball, but “accidentally” lost control of his bat, and it landed close to the first base side of the infield.
Washington knew exactly what he was doing.
Flinging the bat towards second base, gave him a reason to walk out towards the mound. But he never went towards first to retrieve the bat. This my friends, was calculated and premeditated.
Soto had a reputation for being an instigator and agitator. But what made this brawl so special?
Watch Soto closely. Pete Van Wieren picks up on it, but Soto, first tries to punch Washington with ball in hand. Then, as he is being pushed away, fires a Ricky Vaughn heater at him (which misses and hits the Braves 1B coach).
That’s dirty by even today’s standards. You thought Roger Clemens tossing a broken bat at Mike Piazza was bad … Oh the good ol’ days.
2. Braves vs Phillies… Perez vs Bryd
July 30, 1999 … That’s twice, now it’s on!
This one was great! The Braves and Phillies were in a tight battle for the NL East divisional lead.
Let’s set the stage a bit: Five days earlier, Paul Byrd pitched against the Braves and hit Braves catcher Eddie Perez in the back with a pitch in his first at-bat of the game. Then fast-forward to this night, Bobby Cox was ejected from the game in the 3rd inning after arguing a double play. Following that, the stadium suffered a 16-minute power outage. So all these little events led to this melee.
Okay, here we go…Bryd hits Perez AGAIN, but this time in his left shoulder, almost getting his head! Perez holds up his two fingers and yelled “that’s twice” to Bryd.
The following half-inning, Braves starting pitcher John Smoltz retaliates by hitting Alex Arias in the back. Without any warning by the home plate umpire Jerry Meals, Smoltz was ejected from the game. You’ll hear in the video below, Smoltz yells to Meals “you’ve just started a brawl”.
Smoltz was correct.
Byrd walked to the plate next and Perez began chirping. A few words went back and forth, then Perez stuck his glove in Byrd’s face, and then it was officially on. Benches and bullpens emptied.
Braves Honourable Mentions: When 5 isn’t enough
Okay, so five is great, but let’s throw a few more at you…because why not?!?
I love watching old video, especially if it reminds me of the good old days of Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, and all the other former Braves players.
These may not specifically be brawls, but more of a montage of ejections, fights, bench clearing, arguments, etc.
These are the videos I’m staying up late watching.
Hope you enjoy! Don’t miss out on our #1 Braves brawl too!!
Matt Kemp vs future teammates and team!
Future/Former Braves second baseman, Brandon Phillips takes on the Cardinals
A few Chipper Jones ejections
Brian Snitker gets ejected
A few of many Bobby Cox ejections
Tom Glavine gets tossed for throwing at former Brave Dale Murphy
How can we forget the most recent one?
1. Braves vs Padres… Probably the best brawl ever!
August 12, 1984 … Perez vs Leffers AKA The Brawl
Whenever someone asks what the best Bench-Clearing Brawl was in baseball, the Braves/Padres Clash of 1984 is always pointed to.
It was August 12, 1984. Pitching for the Braves was Pascuel Perez. The Padres had Craig Lefferts on the bump. This brawl did not start with the Lefferts HBP to Perez. It had been materializing the whole day.
In the video clip, you can hear The Professor, Pete Van Wieren, go through the events, and pitchers, that led to the final come-to-blows seen on the video.
What was so crazy about this, was that it wasn’t just one or two guys. It wasn’t just the hitter and pitcher. It was EVERYONE. And yes, even the fans stood up for their players, which is not something I would typically recommend.
The best part for me, was Bob Horner, mountain of a man that he was, arm in a cast, too, bulling up to Champ Summers as he sprinted for Perez who was standing by the dugout.
This good old fashioned brew-ha broke out into about 5 or 6 mini bouts. Through the course of the game, Padres pitchers, manager, acting manager one, then acting manager two were sent to the showers early.
The Battle Royale that was Padres v. Braves will probably always be number one whenever the all-time greatest brawls in baseball are discussed.
I don’t know if I should be embarrassed as a baseball fan or proud as a Brave fan, that this fight involved Atlanta.