Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History #1

IZZY ALCANTARA LOSES HIS MIND

Number One

Alright, I realize that I am probably going to have a lot of people who disagree with Izzy Alcantara and the Pawtucket Red Sox holding down the number one spot on my list, but how can you watch a hitter kick the catcher in the face before charging the mound and not think that is something special!

I'll shed some light on what led up to the action.

In the first meeting of the season between the Paw Sox and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons back in May 2001, Alcantara was plunked in the shoulder by Scranton pitcher Pete Zamora after hitting two homers off another pitcher. Now, fast forward to July and we have the two teams meeting again. Alcantara, who was the International League leader in batting and home runs, hits another homer off of Zamora and proceeds to make his way around the bases at a snails pace. Later in the game the Red Barons pitcher, Blas Cedeno, brushes Izzy of the plate with an inside fastball and Izzy obviously takes exception to this. He decides to express his displeasure by kicking the catcher, Jeremy Salazar, in the face and then proceeds to charge the mound. For his troubles he received a six game suspension and an undisclosed fine. In the end, I'm sure he would say it was all worth it just to hold the number one spot on my list of top 5 fights in Red Sox history!

Disclaimer

I know that I left the 1976 Red Sox/Yankees, Fisk vs. Piniella, brawl off the list but the truth is I have only seen clips of it and I am to young to have seen it unfold live. I'm sure if I was around to see it it would be on the list. The clips I have seen looked pretty intense.

Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History #2

PEDRO MARTINEZ vs. GERALD WILLIAMS

Number Two

Ok, for those of you who remember, this is when all the bad blood between the Red Sox and the Devil Rays began. It was the first inning and with his fourth pitch Pedro plunked Williams with a fastball up and in. Williams decided to take exception to this and charged the mound. When the brawl was all said and done with MLB handed down suspensions to 8 Devil Rays players and 0 Red Sox players. If you're wondering whay that is you would have to remember that the Devil Rays pitchers hit 3 Red Sox batters after the Pedro incident in the first inning. After missing Brian Daubach with two pitches that were obviously intended to bean him they still found a way to hit him twice before the night was over. I'm sure it was no coincidence that Daubach was the first Red Sox player to come to Pedro's aid as Williams charged the mound. You have to admit that Pedro always found a way to keep things interesting.

Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History #3

GEORGE BELL vs AARON SELE

Number Three

This action here was not really so much with Aaron Sele as it was with Mo Vaughn. It's great watching Mo just run into the frame and lay Bell out on the turf. I'm not going to say much about this one, I'll just let you check out the video. Hopefully you'll see why this makes my list at number three.

Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History #4

V-TEK vs. A-ROD

*Unfortunately audio doesn't kick in for the first 27 seconds*

Number Four

Alright, I have to admit that I love this one mostly because I hate A-Rod. It was just so nice to see Varitek get up in his grill, literally.

Here's a quick recap.

Top of the 3rd inning and Bronson Arroyo hits A-Rod with a pitch. A-Rod tries to look tough as he begins to walk toward first base while staring down Arroyo. A-Rod begins to get a little mouthy and Varitek tells him to shut the f*** up. A-Rod then says "come on" to Varitek and motions toward him with a "let's get it on" gesture. Varitek responds with both hands in A-Rods face and then all hell breaks loose.

Anytime I get the chance to see A-Rod getting bitch slapped I'm going to hold it in high esteem. For that reason alone I give this fight 4th place on my Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History.

Top 5 Fights in Red Sox History #5

PEDRO MARTINEZ vs DON ZIMMER

NUMBER FIVE

Now I know that this wasn't really a fight by most standards but you have to admit that this is a classic as far as on field scuffles go. How many more times in history do you think you'll see a 72 year old man headed for the turf during a bench clear?

If you recall, the fight began after Pedro Martinez threw behind the head of Karim Garcia in the top of the 4th inning. As Karim Garcia attempted to advance to 2nd base during an Alfonso Soriano at bat, he slid in hard and past the bag knocking down Todd Walker. A shoving match ensued and both benches cleared.

In the bottom of the 4th inning Roger Clemens stepped on the mound and threw a pitch up around the head of Manny Ramirez which prompted Manny to yell and move towards the mound. The benches cleared again, and that was when 72 year old Don Zimmer came rushing toward Pedro Martinez. As we all know, that resulted in Pedro sending Zimmer's fat ass to the turf, and to a memory that most Red Sox fans will never forget.

As entertaining as the game had been up to that point there was still more to come. In the 9th inning a fight broke out in the Yankee's bullpen that reportedly involved a member of the Red Sox ground crew and Karim Garcia. Garcia cut his hand and was removed from the game.

Now that my friends is a memorable ball game!

With all that said, that is why I rank the Pedro vs. Zimmer fight at number five.