Who needs the Red Sox and Yankees?
We just witnessed a benches-clearing brawl in the sixth inning of tonight’s game between the Phillies and Giants. Check out the video footage here.
It all started when Shane Victorino was hit in the back by a pitch from Giants right-hander Ramon Ramirez. Victorino began to gesture and walk toward the mound, but he was quickly intercepted by home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski. By this time, both dugouts and bullpens had emptied and were running toward the field. However, the brawl didn’t really begin in earnest until Eli Whiteside attempted to tackle Placido Polanco, who came running in from first base.
There was all sorts of pushing and shoving and mini-wrestling matches going on, but just when it looked like things were about to calm down, Victorino escaped from Phillies hitting coach Greg Gross and tackled Giants hitting coach Hensley “Bam-Bam” Meulens. Huh? He had it coming, apparently.
Victorino, Ramirez and Whiteside were all given the boot and we’ll likely see numerous fines and suspensions once MLB reviews the footage of the incident.
All in all, I give this this skirmish an eight out of 10 for pure entertainment. Whiteside’s tackling skills? Maybe good enough to make the 49ers.