Top 20 MLB brawls of all time

May 29, 2017; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Hunter Strickland (60) and Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) in a fight after Harper was hit by the pitch of Strickland during the eighth inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

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TORONTO, CANADA – OCTOBER 20: Hall of Famer George Brett #5 of the Kansas City Royals during batting practice before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays during game four of the American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre on October 20, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

11. George Brett vs. Graig Nettles, 1977 ALCS

George Brett? Hot-tempered? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Couldn’t be my Hall of Fame third baseman.

Brawls in the playoffs are so rare because it’s actually bad to get ejected when the games mean so much more. This was an elimination game with a trip to the World Series on the line, no less. The Yankees and Kansas City Royals had one of the more intense rivalries of the 1970s, and they were all feeling the playoff tension this night.

Brett had driven a ball to the wall in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Hal McRae and was trying for a triple. He beat the throw and slid in safely, but hard. Brett jumped up and immediately started throwing punches at Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles. He claimed that Nettles had kicked him in the face on purpose.

Based on the video evidence, it seems Brett has a strong case against Nettles and an even better haymaker. Ron Guidry was backing up the play and got into the action. Thurman Munson came storming over and the benches emptied. Brett would later reveal that Munson had actually helped to protect him at the bottom of the pile.

The fight fizzled out, no one was ejected, and the Yankees used a furious ninth-inning rally to beat the Royals and make it to the World Series.

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