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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BOSTON – OCTOBER 11: Bench coach Don Zimmer of the New York Yankees walks off the field after being thrown on the ground by Pedro Martinez #45 of the Boston Red Sox after he thought a pitch was thrown at him during Game 3 of the 2003 American League Championship Series on October 11, 2003 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusettes. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

5. Yankees vs. Red Sox, 2003 ALCS

This one gets remembered almost immediately for Pedro Martinez throwing long-time Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer to the ground by his head. The early 2000s was the height of the Boston-New York rivalry, and tensions were high in the ALCS.

Of course, Pedro Martinez was on the mound to kick off the brawl. He threw behind the head of Karim Garcia in the top of the fourth, and tempers flared, but the teams did not fight. Martinez ratcheted up the tension by pointing into the Yankees dugout and then his head. In his last start against the Yankees, he had beaned Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Roger Clemens threw a high fastball that did not please Manny Ramirez. In reality, it was not even close to hitting him, but the Red Sox seemed to be looking for a fight at this point. This brawl really got out of hand in a hurry. Martinez aggressively threw Zimmer to the ground after grabbing him by the head. There is just no place for that on a baseball diamond.

Even the biggest Yankees hater cannot find fault with how they handled this game. All the blame for this brawl goes on Pedro Martinez. The series would eventually go down as an all-time classic in its own right, with Aaron Boone hitting a walkoff in extra innings of Game 7.

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