| Players Behaving Badly.com MLB Fights NY Yankees vs Baltimore Orioles (May 19, 1998) |
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In 1996, young Yankee's fan Jeffrey Maier caused the
series to swing in the Yankees favor by messing with a
ball that was going to be caught by the Orioles (photo
seen below). Baltimore has never forgot about this. One
and a half years later these two teams got in one of the
worst brawls of modern baseball.
Oriole's closer Armando Benitez gave up the game
winning three run home run to Bernie Williams in the
eighth inning, then he took out his frustration on Tino
Martinez, drilling him between the shoulder blades.
Yankee pitcher Graeme Lloyd became so incensed at the
spectacle that he raced in from the bullpen to get in a lick
at Benitez. The fight moved toward the O's dugout, with
Darryl Strawberry throwing what the Baltimore Sun called
a "sucker punch" at Benitez, swinging so hard that he
ended up in the Baltimore dugout. Then Alan Mills
pounded Strawberry, bloodying his face.
"I've never seen anything like that in 25 years," said
George Steinbrenner. "That guy ... that pitcher ... should
be suspended for the rest of the year. That was a
classless act. He's got no class."
Yankee's manager Joe Torre agreed with his boss. "It was
so blatant.... Benitez caused a riot. That's the downside to
the designated hitter. The pitcher gets braver when he
doesn't have to face the music."
series to swing in the Yankees favor by messing with a
ball that was going to be caught by the Orioles (photo
seen below). Baltimore has never forgot about this. One
and a half years later these two teams got in one of the
worst brawls of modern baseball.
Oriole's closer Armando Benitez gave up the game
winning three run home run to Bernie Williams in the
eighth inning, then he took out his frustration on Tino
Martinez, drilling him between the shoulder blades.
Yankee pitcher Graeme Lloyd became so incensed at the
spectacle that he raced in from the bullpen to get in a lick
at Benitez. The fight moved toward the O's dugout, with
Darryl Strawberry throwing what the Baltimore Sun called
a "sucker punch" at Benitez, swinging so hard that he
ended up in the Baltimore dugout. Then Alan Mills
pounded Strawberry, bloodying his face.
"I've never seen anything like that in 25 years," said
George Steinbrenner. "That guy ... that pitcher ... should
be suspended for the rest of the year. That was a
classless act. He's got no class."
Yankee's manager Joe Torre agreed with his boss. "It was
so blatant.... Benitez caused a riot. That's the downside to
the designated hitter. The pitcher gets braver when he
doesn't have to face the music."
| The 1998 Baltimore team was still heated about this bad call that cost them a trip to the World Series. The Yankees aura was restored, and Baltimore went into a free fall for many years. |