May 20, 1976: The Red Sox and Yankees engage in an epic brawl, kicked off by a collision at home plate between Carlton Fisk and Lou Pinella. ... (Ten years ago, I blogged about watching this brawl live!)
As the umpires watched from a safe distance, players streamed onto the field from both dugouts and the center-field bullpens. Rivers, a flyweight, engaged in guerrilla tactics on the perimeter, but the main event involved Pitcher Bill Lee, Boston's only left-handed starter, and Nettles. Lee got much the worst of it—a black eye and a torn ligament in his shoulder that is likely to keep him out of action for six weeks. Other casualties included Yaz (bruised thigh), Piniella (swollen finger) and Rivers (injured toe). Even the bat boy was hit by debris thrown from the stands.
After the Yankees won the fight, the Red Sox came back to take the game, exploding for eight runs in the last three innings for an 8-2 victory. "The fight is what did it," said Yastrzemski, who smacked his fourth and fifth homers in the two days since he had borrowed Evans' bat and resumed his familiar raised-arm stance. "After that we had a will to win I hadn't seen since the World Series. I wasn't just congratulated after the home runs, I was mobbed."
Holy fuck--that was a brawl!
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