1984 Braves–Padres bean brawl

On August 12, 1984, during an afternoon game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, a series of brawls broke out between the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves over of a series of attempted beanings and retaliations. The game ended with a record 13 ejections and also 5 arrests, with a few spectators getting involved in the ruckus.^[1]

Game play

Braves starting pitcher Pascual Pérez hit Alan Wiggins with the very first pitch of the game, which seemed to put the Padres into retaliatory mode. The Braves went up 2–0 in the bottom of the first on a Claudell Washington homer.^[2]

When Perez came to bat in the bottom of the 2nd, Padres starter Ed Whitson threw at him as he squared to bunt. Perez responded by wielding his bat and starting toward Whitson, but home plate umpire Steve Rippley restrained him as both benches began to clear. Rippley issued a warning to both teams without any fighting ensuing. The Braves scored another run in the inning to go up 3–0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Whitson threw three straight inside fastballs at Perez, and Rippley ejected both Whitson and manager Dick Williams. Greg Booker replaced Whitson and gave up two more runs before facing Perez in the bottom of the sixth. Then, Booker also threw at Perez and Rippley proceeded to throw both him and acting manager Ozzie Virgil out of the game. In the top of the seventh, Graig Nettles hit a solo homer off Perez, which would incite later activity.

In the bottom of the eighth, Craig Lefferts threw at Perez and Rippley ejected both him and second acting manager Jack Krol, leaving only Harry Dunlop to manage the rest of the way. This time, both the Braves' and Padres' dugouts cleared and the brawl was on. First base umpire John McSherry and Padres first baseman Steve Garvey attempted to head off the onslaught, but both were caught in the middle as both teams exchanged punches. The brawl went on for 10 minutes before reserve infielder Champ Summers stormed towards Perez, who had retreated to the Braves' dugout. Bob Horner (who was actually on the disabled list with an injured wrist, but dressed in uniform once the initial brawl started) met Summers at the front of the dugout and he and the Braves' Rick Camp wrestled him to the ground along with a fan who leaped on top of Summers from the stands. Another fan doused Summers with a drink. On the side, the Padres' Bobby Brown and the Braves' Gerald Perry engaged in a fight of their own. Summers, Brown, Camp, and Perry were all ejected.

Finally, in the top of the ninth, Braves' reliever Donnie Moore hit Nettles with his second pitch when he came to bat, sparking yet another fight. Nettles was wrestled to the ground by Rick Mahler and Steve Bedrosian as he came after Moore. Moore was then attacked by Goose Gossage as he retreated to the dugout and Gossage was wrestled to the ground by manager Joe Torre and other Braves players. Nettles then went after Moore again and was finally restrained, but Gerald Perry, who had already been ejected, went after Tim Flannery. Moore, Nettles, Gossage, and Torre were ejected at that point. Several other players besides Perry from both teams who were ejected after the previous fight risked suspensions by returning to the field to participate. Fans in the seats behind the Padres' dugout began to taunt the Padres, including Ed Whitson, who had been ejected back in the fourth inning. The fans began to pelt and shower the Padre players with drinks, prompting Kurt Bevacqua to climb to the top of the dugout with a bat. At that moment, a fan leaped onto the field and tried to steal a batting helmet before being tackled by players and detained by security. Finally, Rippley, McSherry, and the umpiring crew ordered players and coaches for both sides not otherwise engaged in the game out of their dugouts and into their clubhouses for the remainder of the game. All fans who participated in the taunting and brawls were detained and arrested.^[3]

Once the game finally resumed, Gene Garber pitched the remainder for the Braves with Joe Pignatano acting for Torre. The Padres scored two in the ninth, but no more as the Braves won 5–3.^[4][5] Fines and suspensions were issued four days later on August 16 to Williams ($10,000, ten days) and Summers, Brown, Torre ($1,000), Perry ($700), Bedrosian ($600) and Mahler ($700) who each received three-day suspensions. Virgil, Krol, Whitson, Booker, Lefferts, Bevacqua, Flannery, Nettles and Gossage for the Padres (all undisclosed) and Moore ($350) and Pérez ($300) for the Braves were all fined but not suspended.^[6]

References

Further reading

• Durso, Joseph (August 15, 1985). "Beanball Brawl Stirring Baseball". The New York Times.
• Jason, Foster (August 13, 2019). "How some Braves bat boys played an unwitting role in the wildest brawl of all time". The Sporting News.

External links

• Box score and Play-by-play at Baseball-Reference.com
• August 12, 1984: Braves-Padres brawl leaves 17 players ejected in one game – SABR Games Project