Major brawl breaks out during Australian League game — Video
We’ve reached that point in the offseason where we’re all getting anxious for Major League Baseball’s opening bell to ring on April 5. With that in mind though, it’s always baseball season somewhere, and right now the Australian Baseball League (ABL) is nearing the finish line of its regular season.
As in MLB, that means the intensity is picking up for teams jockeying for a playoff position and frustrations are setting in for teams simply playing out the string. Sure, the ABL only has six teams, but that all still applies. On Friday, those two opposite-end emotions came together during a game between the Adelaide Bite and Melbourne Aces, and the result was our first wild baseball brawl of the new calender year.
According to MLB.com’s Mike Bertha, playoff bound Adelaide knocked off last place Melbourne in walk-off fashion on Thursday night, which may have planted seeds of frustration that were to bloom in Friday’s rematch. Once again trailing when the eighth inning rolled around, Melbourne pitchers Darryl George and Al Yevoli combined to hit three out of four Adelaide batters.
Intentional or not, that’s never going to go over well with the opposition. Perhaps adding to the hostility is the fact neither pitcher was ejected by the umpiring crew. In the next half inning, Adelaide went ahead and took matters into its own hands. On the very first pitch, Bite pitcher Tony Vocca drilled Aces shortstop Brad Harman, and that set the whole thing off.
This brawl covered some ground, too. Though catcher William Throp did his best to hold Harman back, the dugouts soon emptied and the group congregated on the first base side of the pitching mound. Within two minutes, that pile had relocated to the bullpen down the left field line. In between, one player was almost literally chased out of the ballpark.
Eventually, the umpires did regain control. Something they probably could have done much sooner by sending one of Melbourne’s pitchers packing. The game was finished without any further issues, with Adelaide completing an 8-2 victory. But nothing could overshadow the craziness that played out over the final inning.
There’s no word yet on possible punishments for those involved, but one can safely assume a couple suspensions and some hefty fines are forthcoming.
By the way, if this looks familiar, it was just over a year ago that the Australian league featured another wild brawl that made headlines. Clearly it’s not the size of the league, but rather the fight of the players that fuel such epic brouhahas.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
