Fight Night in Fenway

Well the first brawl in 2011 has occurred.  The Red Sox and Orioles went at it Friday night in Fenway Park in Boston. David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg were the main competitors in this fight. This got me thinking about fights/brawls in baseball.

Check out my thoughts along with video of the brawl in Fenway Park along with other video of past baseball brawls over the past couple of years.

Earlier in the game between the Red Sox and Orioles, David Ortiz hit a long home run into the right field seats. He did stand/pose at home plate and did flick the bat. This same thing happened back at Yankee Stadium earlier in the season. The Yankees didn't like it but really never retaliated until the very end of the series. As for the Orioles, they took exception to Ortiz's actions rather quickly.  In the bottom of the 8th inning, Gregg pitched inside to David Ortiz not once, not twice but three times on consecutive pitches. Ortiz then barked at pitcher Kevin Gregg. The two yapped at each other, benches and bullpens cleared, but nothing occurred. On the very next pitch, Ortiz and Gregg got together.

While the fight itself between Ortiz and Gregg wasn't too strong, their teammates got into it much more. So is fighting good for baseball? Does it downgrade the sport? To me it just shows teams coming together and supporting each other. It's different than fighting in hockey since that's more individualized since it's just the two players on the ice with everyone else looking on. While in baseball each player is backed by his entire team, bullpens included.

This is a video of several baseball brawls in the past. As you can see there's much more of a team aspect involved.What are your thoughts about brawls in baseball? What's your favorite baseball fight of all time? Post a comment below.