11 Best Baseball Brawls

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A good baseball brawl from time to time is one of many reasons that baseball is such an entertaining sport to watch.

Baseball is a game of complex strategy that takes place over the course of 9 innings, but when certain unwritten rules get broken an all-out brawl can break out at a moment’s notice.

While we may not see as many brawls in today’s game as we did back in the 80s and 90s, we still get a good share of baseball fights every year.

Top Baseball Brawls in MLB History

Let’s take a look at some of the all-time brawls in major league baseball history:

1. Nolan Ryan vs. Robin Ventura

The backstory on the brawl started in the previous innings when a White Sox pitcher hit one of the best Rangers hitters, Juan Gonzalez.

Nolan Ryan then drilled Robin Ventura with a payback hit by pitch and Ventura drilled Ventura in the back with a 100MPH fastball.

Ryan was able to get Ventura in a headlock and landed several headshots. The iconic headlock by Ryan has been turned into one of the most popular baseball photos that collectors showcase throughout the country.

2. Jose Ramirez vs. Tim Anderson

I never thought I would see a baseball fight that was almost as entertaining as the Roger Clemens vs. Robin Ventura slugfest, but the recent fight between Jose Ramirez and Tim Anderson is right up at the top of my all-time list.

This fight went from 0 to 100 really fast with both players ready to fight one another after Ramirez got up from the tag from Anderson that he felt was a little too hard.

Ramirez and Anderson had beef with one another earlier in the game and Ramirez let out his frustrations with a huge right hook that dropped Anderson to the ground.

The play-by-play announcer’s real-time breakdown of the fight transpiring with the epic line “Down goes Anderson” makes this one of those moments that will live in baseball infamy. 

3. Angels vs Mariners

A more recent brawl that went viral was the fight between the Angels and Mariners from a few seasons ago. Like most brawls, tempers started to fume after a couple of Mariners batters got hit in recent matchups vs the Angels. The Angels pitching staff then retaliated by throwing up and into the Angels best hitter, Mike Trout.

Throwing at a player like Trout is a recipe for a brawl and Phil Nevin and the Angels took great offense and put it in their memory bank for the next game they played.

The Angels started a reliever the next day and kicked things off by throwing at the second batter. Tempers started to heat up over the next inning and another hit by a pitch against the Angels resulted in a bench-clearing brawl between both teams.

4. Roughned Odor vs. Jose Bautista

Another epic fight that recently took place was between Roughned Odor and Jose Bautista. 

The drama started the year before when Bautista celebrated a home run for a little too long and left a bitter taste in the Rangers’ mouth heading into the next season.

The 6th time the Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays played each other the next year is when the Ranger’s hatred for Bautista spilled over.

A Ranger reliever drilled Bautista in the back as payback for Bautista’s showboating the prior year. Bautista took first base after the hit-by-pitch and then slid into second base to successfully break up a double-play turn by Odor. 

Odor took offense to the hard slide by Bautista and landed a right hook to the jaw of Bautista and then escalated into a bench-clearing brawl between both teams.

5. New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
 

The game 3 ACLS brawl between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park is another one of the top brawls in baseball history. Typically you won’t see teams willing to throw at one another with so much on the line, but with the New York

Yankees and Boston Red Sox, anything goes between these two teams.

This brawl started when Pedro Martinez retaliated by throwing up and in against Kareem Garcia. The next inning, Roger Clemens threw a pitch that nearly hit Manny Ramirez and they both then proceeded to yell at one another and both benches cleared.

 Don Zimmer charged at Pedro Martinez and Martinez spun the 72-year-old Zimmer to the ground which became one of the most memorable MLB fights in baseball history.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates vs Reds Brawl

This recent brawl between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates is a sleeper for one of the most entertaining brawls in Major League baseball history. Both teams threw at each other throughout the course of the game with tensions slowly building up to the inevitable benches-clearing brawl.

 As the game moved into the late innings a Pirates home run resulted in the Pirates bench players began exchanging words to the Reds reliever Amir Garrett and Garrett took off toward the Pirates dugout ready for action. This brawl went on for a while with some entertaining mini-fights between players and coaches before cooler heads prevailed.

7. Atlanta Braves vs. San Diego Padres

Going back to the 80s with this one the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves had multiple brawls throughout the course of a game in 1984. In today’s game after one brawl, the umpires do a good job of warning both teams and the game typically resumes in the normal fashion.

 This matchup resulted in several entertaining mini-brawls in which fans got involved and both teams were forced into their respective clubhouses.

8. Giants vs. Dodgers

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports and back in 1965 two all-time greats Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax were the two pitchers on the mound when this scary brawl took place.

Marichal and Dodgers catcher John Roseboro got into a heated argument after Roseboro threw at a ball back to Koufax that hit a Giants hitter in the head. While there is no footage of the incident Marichal is known to have used a baseball bat against Roseboro and Roseboro left the game with his face bloodied as he left the field.

9. Baltimore Orioles vs. Seattle Mariners 1993
 

Mike Mussina was known for his time with the New York Yankees but he also pitched for the Baltimore Orioles earlier in his career. In this early 90s brawl, Mussina plunked the Mariners batter Bill Haselman and Haselman immediately charged at Mussina and both benches cleared quickly to get in on the action.

The brawl seemed to go on forever with several mini-brawls breaking out across the infield. There were plenty of headlocks and takedowns in this brawl which you rarely see in today’s game as players seem to be more injury conscious. 

Just when you thought this brawl was nearing an end, it would continue to go on for several minutes and eventually concluded near the Orioles dugout.

10. Arod vs. Jason Varitek

This was another epic brawl between the Yankees and Red Sox as Arod and Jason Varitek got into it back in 2004.

Arod was one of the most hated players by Red Sox fans and players and after getting plunked by Bronson Arroyo, Arod and Varitek started exchanging words, and then both two teams got involved in a huge brawl right behind home plate.

 Several big names like David Ortiz, Jeter, Don Mattingly, Gabe Kapler, and others were part of this fight which is one of the most memorable moments in baseball.

 11. Reds vs. Cardinals

 

For our last brawl let’s take a look at an entertaining baseball fight between the Reds and Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals took issue with the way Nick Castellanos celebrated a home run earlier in the season and went up and in the next day to Castellanos’ ribs.

 Castellanos ended up scoring in a play at the plate and flexed over the Reds pitcher and that was enough for the Cardinals to clear the dugout and sprint toward home plate. While this brawl didn’t end up in any right hooks or takedowns, the dialogue between the two teams is hilarious and bullpens also ended up getting involved.

FAQ

What is a baseball fight called?

A baseball fight is typically called a “brawl” because it almost always involves both teams clearing their benches and charging the field to protect their teammate.

Part of baseball culture is protecting your teammates with fierce loyalty, so its rare for players to get multiple punches in before teammates swarm in to break up the fight.

Summary

 MLB fights are starting to evolve as time goes on and players realize missing time through suspension or injury is clearly not worth it.

While the desire to fistfight may be waning, the pride to keep baseball’s unwritten rules enforced seems to be as strong as ever.