Baseball fans across the land know that it didn’t even take two weeks before we were delivered our first double-bench clearing brawl day. First, Wednesday saw the bean-ball-battle that ensued between the Rockies and Padres. Then, we got seconds with the bad-blood boiling over between the Yankees and Red Sox.
That led the self-appointed baseball fight historians to take a look back and rate the greatest MLB bench-clearers of all time. Brace yourselves baseball fans because here we go.
10 Orioles/Mariners (93) – Went on forever with a dirt-kicking Lou Pinella.
9 A’s/Tigers (72) – This one brought bats to the party.
8 White Sox/Cubs (06) – A.J. Pierzynski was the true star here.
7 Dodgers/Diamondbacks (13) – Highlighted by Vin Scully’s lip-reading.
6 Yankees/Red Sox (03) – ACLS and feature Don Zimmer body-slammed
by Pedro Martinez – classy!
5 Rangers/Blue Jays (16) – Featured one of the best punches in the sport.
4 Yankees/Orioles (98) – The Orioles go for the time-length record again.
3 Padres/Braves (84) – 15 ejections mean you’re doing something right.
2 Yankees/Red Sox (73) – Bill Lee went on the DL during this rivalry melee.
1 Rangers/White Sox (83) – Nolan Ryan takes Robin Ventura to school.
Taking a closer look at this list, it kind of makes you wonder why there’s so much venom and tension brewing-up in the American League – aside from the obvious hatred between the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Source: Maxim