One of the most memorable things on a baseball field is when emotions overflow and a brawl breaks out as the crowd frenzies. Just the last two decades of Red Sox fandom have brought some of the most legendary shoving matches in the sport’s history.
None of these brawls touch the infamous 1984 battle between the Padres and Braves, where fans got involved and it became the longest struggle ever on a baseball diamond. Still, something about Jason Varitek shutting Alex Rodriguez up has just as big of an impact.
Some players shy away from trading blows with other teams. Mookie Betts is always one of the first players that comes to mind after he declared that he was a lover and not a fighter back in 2018. Let’s just say the likes of Joe Kelly are on the opposite side of the spectrum, who don’t fear that confrontation one it.
I’d also throw Pedro Martinez into that category as well. He never feared pitching inside, even if it meant a fist was coming in high and tight towards his head a few innings later.
Feels like tempers very rarely reach the levels of some of the brawls even 10 years ago, because of how aggressive umpires act today. If there’s even an inclination of retaliation or some type of feud playing out, usually the pitchers is thrown out in seconds. Terry Collins knows that better than anyone, after Home Plate Umpire Tom Hallion explained that his ass was in the jackpot.
Just a heads-up, none of these rankings are listing one brawl over the other. This is just a collection of the Top 8 brawls in the history of the Boston Red Sox. If we missed any or you have a good submission, don’t hesitate to send them over on Twitter (or X?).
