Top 5 Sports Fights

When it comes to sports, it isn’t unusual for players to be rough, but sometimes, these players take things too far.

This+is+a+picture+of+the+New+York+Yankees+stadium%2C+where+many+heated+altercations+have+taken+place.

Photo by Chanan Greenblatt on Unsplash

This is a picture of the New York Yankees’ stadium, where many heated altercations have taken place.

Sports are emotional and competitive.  Sometimes our emotions can get the better of us, especially when the circumstances are very high. Fights can break out in sports for the many reasons, although there’s never a good reason to fight. Altercations can lead to injuries, fines, suspensions, and even legal charges.  Here are the top 5 Fights in sports history.

 

Drew Ramos is seen watching the fight between the Rangers and Blue Jays. While viewing this, he wonders if the fight could’ve been avoided.

Number 5: The fight between the Steelers’ Quarterback, Mason Rudolph, and the Browns’ DB, Miles Garret starts off the list of worst fights in sports history. It began with Miles Garret tackling Mason Rudolph. Mason thought that it was a late hit; in wrestling each other to the ground, he grabbed Miles Garret’s helmet and tried to pull it off. Miles Garret then took Mason Rudolph’s helmet off and hit him over the head with it. This led to multiple players on both teams converging into the end zone and throwing punches and kicking. Twenty-nine players were fined, multiple players were suspended, both teams were fined $250,000, and Miles Garret was later suspended indefinitely from the NFL. This fight will most likely end with legal action, and is one of the worst fights in modern history.

This picture was taken right after Mason Rudolph was hit in the head by the helmet. You can see Mason with his hands in the air pleading for a flag from the refs for the foul play.

Number 4: Next is the fight between Texas Rangers’ Rougned Odor and Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista.  This fight was no mere wrestling match, it was a pure fist fight. It started off with what would looked like a routine double play, but after Jose Bautista took a very aggressive slide into second base, it was obvious that he was trying to take out Odor. Odor proceeded to march right up to Bautista, pushing him and hitting him with a right hook. Surprisingly, Bautista didn’t flinch, but by this point both teams were on the field, some trying to break up the fight, others throwing punches.

Luke Clark pointing at the Red Sox’s catcher, who is shown shoving his hands in Alex Rodriguez’s face. This was the beginning of the fight between the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Number 3:  The fight between The Red Sox’s Mo Vaughn and the White Sox’s George Bell began with the bad blood between these two players and their teams that had gone on for years. When the teams met on the field, spectators knew that it would be a very interesting game. Immediately, Mo Vaughn threw a pitch right next to George Bell’s shoulder, clearly trying to hit him. George Bell stepped back into the box getting ready for the next pitch, and the next pitch went right behind him, barely grazing his back. Seconds after the pitch was thrown, George sprinted at Vaughn and tried to punch him. A Red Sox player ended up decking him, so both teams jumped onto the field and began to scrap. It was an all-out brawl for the rest of the inning. 

Drew Ramos watching the beginning of one of the most infamous fights in baseball history. He is watching in suspense to see the first punches of this brawl.

Number 2: The Yankees and the Red Sox have always had an intense rivalry, one which was recently furthered by a fight between Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez and the Red Sox’s Jason Varitek. Rodriguez was up to bat immediately got drilled by the pitcher Varitek. He began walking to first base screaming expletives at Varitek, but on his way the catcher got in his face and began to partake in fisticuffs. As soon as everyone saw the first fight, both teams jumped in and began trading blows, using this as an opportunity to fight their rival. One player even had a gash on his head after leaving the scuffle. This was possibly the biggest fight in MLB history.

Mohamed Khadrane looking at Metta World Piece (Ron Artest) wondering how he feels about fighting the fans in the stadium. This fight will go down in history as the worst fight in sports’ history.

Number 1: One of the most infamous fights in NBA History, nicknamed “The Malice at the Palace,” it was a fight that started between players, but ended up as an all out brawl that included fans, too. The fight started between Indiana Pacers Ron Artest, now named Metta World Peace, and Pistons center, Ben Wallace. As Ben Wallace drove to the basket, Artest caught him with a hard elbow, causing the players to begin fighting. When he was trying to calm down on the bench, a fan threw a Diet Coke bottle that hit him in the chest. This led him to run and jump into the stands, repeatedly punching the fan. Multiple fans then joined into the fight, along with other players trying to calm everyone down and help their teammate. While being taken out of the stadium fans were pelting Ron Artest and the Pacers with anything they had. He was later suspended for a whole season and fined five million dollars. This fight will be forever remembered as one of the worst fights in the history of sports.