I must have missed the memo. Noone told me that it’s athlete brawl week. First, the lovely Candace Parker and the ladies of the Detroit Shocks & LA Sparks duke it out. Now, 17 minor league players from affiliate teams of the Cincinnati Reds (Dayton) and Chicago Cubs (Peoria), brawl at a minor league game.
ESPN.com has been busy this week giving the updates. According to Espn, 15 players and both team managers were given the boot and even a fan was sent to the hospital. I wonder if he will get offered 25K like Steve Bartman… but I digress. The brawl lasted about 8 – 10 minutes and cleared the entire bench. (those are my fav fights, it gets everyone engaged.. even the waterboys).
Unlike with the WNBA game, league President George Spelius, said the game must go on! The ejections were reversed and the game continued with a Dayton win. The fan involved was hit by a loose ball thrown from one player towards the other dugout.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Enough with the background, here’s the play-by-play.”After a Peoria player was hit in the top of the first, Castillo hit two batters in the bottom half — one in the head. The second hit batsmen by Castillo, Angel Cabrerra, made an aggressive slide into second to break up a double play. Castillo followed that by throwing his next pitch up-and-in to the next Dayton batter, prompting Dayton manager Donnie Scott to complain to the home plate umpire. Interim Peoria manager Carmelo Martinez — filling in for Ryne Sanberg — came onto the field to join the discussion.
The two managers began arguing, and when Martinez pushed Scott, the benches emptied.
Dayton shortstop Zack Cozart had to leave the game after being hit in the head with a pitch and Peoria second baseman Gian Guzman went out with a broken left leg, the Dayton Daily News reported.
During an hour-long delay, the teams protested the ejections by phone to league president George Spelius, saying they didn’t want pitchers playing in the outfield to complete the game.
Spelius will take appropriate action once video footage of the game has been reviewed, Dayton general manager Gary Mayse said in a statement.”
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