|
|
|
July 24, 2004
|
A-Rod, Varitek ejected in latest yanks-red sox brawl
A bench-clearing brawl broke out between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox on Saturday after Bronson Arroyo hit New York's Alex Rodriguez with a pitch in the top of the third inning.
Rodriguez stared down Arroyo as he started walking toward first. Catcher Jason Varitek got between them as the AL MVP walked up the baseline and, after some jawing, pushed the Yankees star in the face. The dugouts and bullpens emptied.
Several scrums erupted, with Gabe Kapler battling Yankees starter Tanyon Sturtze, soon joined by Boston's Trot Nixon and David Ortiz. Sturtze was bleeding from the left ear.
Varitek and Rodriguez were ejected from the game by plate umpire Bruce Froemming. Sturtze pitched the bottom of the third with mud or blood on his shoulder, but he left after the inning with a bruised right pinky finger; he was scheduled for precautionary X-rays.
The Red Sox are desperately in need of a spark as they chase New York, which led 3-0 at the time and began the day 9 games ahead of Boston in the AL East. Boston has never come back from more than 10 games behind to win the division.
The teams also brawled last fall at Fenway Park during Game 3 of the AL championship series, when Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez threw 72-year-old Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground. Zimmer, a former Boston manager who is now with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, apologized the next day.
In 1976, New York's Lou Piniella collided with Boston catcher Carlton Fisk at home plate in Yankee Stadium and came up swinging. In the ensuing fight, Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee was body-slammed and wound up with a broken collarbone.
Rodriguez is proving to be a catalyst for the escalation of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Boston had a tentative deal to acquire the third baseman from Texas in December. That fell through and the Yankees acquired him two months later.
|
|
