Top 20 MLB brawls of all time

1. Padres vs. Braves, August 12, 1984

The undisputed title of biggest MLB brawl of all time goes to the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. It seemed like a regular late-season contest between a mediocre Atlanta team and a very good San Diego team. Braves pitcher Pasual Perez started the game by hitting Padres leadoff man Alan Wiggins in the back — probably no intent there.

The Padres, however, were so steamed about Perez hitting Wiggins that they went after him four times over the rest of the game. Tempers finally came to a head in the bottom of the eighth inning after Perez was finally hit on the fourth try. An all-time great sports fight followed.

This one had it all — future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn threw in a great tackle, fans stormed the field and threw beer, Champ Summers, the Padres pitcher, seemed to have his emotions in check until he made a mad charge to get Perez in the dugout, Bob Horner fought with a cast on, and Braves manager Joe Torre wrapped it all up by comparing his counterpart Dick Williams to Hitler. Oh yeah — there was another mini-brawl in the ninth inning after the Braves retaliated with another hit batter.

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Not that anyone really cared when it was all said and done, but the Braves did win the game 5-3. Thirteen players were ejected. Head umpire John McSherry said the brawl had “set baseball back 50 years.” The Padres would go on to the 1984 World Series, but lost in five to the Detroit Tigers.

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