Baseball brawls like Reds-Pirates fight draw suspensions, fines
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Eight people were ejected from Tuesday’s Reds-Pirates game after a bench-clearing brawl, including a manager and bench coach.
MLB officials haven’t said if they’ll face any further punishment, but suspensions and even fines are possible for at least some of the players involved. Two of them, Pirates pitcher Chris Archer and Cleveland-bound Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig, were already suspended earlier this season for their roles in an intentional hit and another brawl between the two teams.
Reds manager David Bell, who has a team-record eight ejections, is also facing suspension for coming back onto the field after he’d already been ejected for arguing a called strike earlier, the Associated Press reported.
“That’s crazy,” Puig told reporters about the inning after the game.
Sportrac, a website that tracks professional sports data, has a database of MLB suspensions going back to 2009. Here’s a look at some of the heftiest punishments doled out by MLB for on-field bad behavior in the past 10 years, according to Sportrac’s database:
Ian Kennedy
Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy was suspended for 10 games and gave up $233,060 in 2013 after he intentionally hit Dodgers batters Zack Greinke and Puig, starting a brawl.
The league issued eight suspensions and 12 fines related to the fight.
Yordano Ventura
Kansas City pitcher Yordano Venture was suspended for eight games in 2015 for his role in a bench-clearing brawl with the White Sox.
Carlos Carrasco
Cleveland pitcher Carlos Carrasco was fined $3,000 and lost out on $21,420 while suspended for eight games after he intentionally threw at Yankee Kevin Youkilis in 2013. Carrasco had just finished a five-game suspension for hitting Billy Butler with a fastball in 2011, ESPN reported. But he apologized after the game and said he’d slipped on the pitch.
Carlos Quentin
In 2013, Padres slugger Carlos Quentin took an eight-game suspension, costing him $415,300, and a $3,000 fine for charging the mound after he was hit by a pitch from Zack Greinke. Quentin reportedly broke Greinke’s collarbone before a larger melee broke out.
Nyjer Morgan
Washington’s centerfielder had a rough month in September 2010. He’d just come off a seven-game suspension for throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia, costing him more than $16,000. Then, a pitch went behind Morgan and he charged the mound, clearing the benches.
Morgan was fined $15,000 and suspended for eight more games, adding another $18,000 to his losses.
Rougned Odor
The Texas second baseman reacted poorly to an illegal slide from Toronto’s Jose Bautista, pushing and hitting him. He was suspended for seven games and fined $5,000 for fighting.
Jonathan Papelbon
Phillies pitcher Jonathan Papelbon left the field to boos after blowing a lead. He grabbed his crotch in a gesture umpires deemed “obscene,” but Papelbon maintained it was an innocent adjustment. The seven-game suspension cost him more than $497,000.
Johnny Cueto
The Cardinals swept the Reds in an August 2010 series, but the Reds went down swinging. A brawl broke out during the third game. Pitcher Johnny Cueto kicked Chris Carpenter during the fight, earning him a seven-game suspension that cost him about $17,000.
FOX Business' Henry Fernandez contributed to this report.