Best Brawls: #5 - 2003 ALCS Yankees v. Red Sox

Date:

October 11th, 2003 - Game 3 of the ALCS

The Catalyst:

The first salvo was Pedro Martinez hitting Karim Garcia in the top of the 4th which resulted in an argument between the two players and the benches clearing, setting the stage for fireworks in the bottom of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Roger Clemens throws high and inside to Manny Ramirez which sends both benching pouring onto the field and punches are thrown. Just as things were settling down, Don Zimmer comes charging out of the Yankess dugout and in one of the funniest moments I've ever seen, Pedro grabs Don Zimmer by his usually large melon and flings him to the ground...which of course leads to more mayhem. And not to be outdone, towards the end of the game, Garcia, Yankee pitcher Jeff Nelson and the groundskeeper for the Red Sox (wtf?) get into a brawl out in the bullpens. It was a wild and enjoyable game and really, how could you have a series about baseball brawls without starting with the Yankees and Red Sox.

The Outcome:

Zimmer was taken off the field in a stretcher and checked out at the hospital (nothing serious, cut on his nose), Karim Garica suffered a cut on his hand in the bullpen scuffle and was replaced. The Yankees won the game and eventually went on to win the series (Aaron Boone's walk off homer in the 11th inning of game 7), numerous players were fined as a result of the scuffle but no one was suspended.

**Sidenote: I'll try to get video of these things in future additions of Best Brawls but for now, if you're dying to see it again, look it up on YouTube or GoogleVideo.