Ex-MLB pitcher sparks massive bench-clearing brawl in indie league game
One of the oldest jokes in sports is “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.”
Well, move over hockey, because independent minor league baseball wants a piece of that action.
Mat Latos, a former MLB pitcher who played for eight teams — including an impressive six different squads in the last three years of his nine-year career — eventually ended up on the New Jersey Jackals of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball.
And on Saturday night, during a game against the Rockland Boulders of Pomona, New York, Latos showed that his control is perhaps not quite up to major league standards.
Latos threw a pair of inside pitches to the hitter at the plate for Rockland.
The first one was a brushback, possibly a sign that Latos was losing his composure.
The fan who shot the film astutely noted that the “next one will be inside too,” before Latos threw what would’ve been a beanball on a taller hitter but instead sailed over the batter’s head as a wild pitch.
The hitter took umbrage, taking a couple of steps toward the mound while making a “Dude, what was that all about” gesture … and then the fun started.
A Rockland player charged in from off-screen, trying to blindside Latos, but the pitcher was ready, laying a tackle on him.
Latos lifted the guy up, using his own momentum against him, then a teammate came in with the clothesline to drop the guy who’d tried to sneak-attack the pitcher.
Both benches cleared, and the standard dance of guys in a rugby scrum who don’t really have any particular beef with each other ensued. Latos pointed and shouted a lot while his own teammates held him back, and then order was restored and play resumed.
Still, you have to hand it to the Jackals on this one. How often do you see The Hart Foundation’s finishing move from professional wrestling executed on a baseball field?
Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart ought to be proud to see their legacy carried on like that.
Making matters weirder, the stadium DJ played “300 Violin Orchestra” by Jorge Quintero to egg on the players and get the crowd pumped up. Which, well … try “Dovahkiin” from Skyrim next time. Much more epic.
The whole weird, sordid affair eventually sorted itself out. Latos was ejected and the Jackals ended up winning the game with four runs in the bottom of the ninth to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
Latos currently has a 5.14 earned run average with the Jackals, and after this incident, his days as a pro ballplayer may be numbered.
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