I have seen a baseball rumble or two in my day, and while I’m not sure I could or would say that this one is the worst, it definitely checks a lot of the ugly boxes. It even involves a former Chicago Cubs player for good measure.
Tensions had apparently already been high between the Toros de Tijuana and Rieleros de Aguascalientes in Mexican League action when Rieleros pitcher Brandon Quintero threw one behind Toros catcher Gabriel Gutierrez. So maybe a brawl was inevitable at that point. But what I didn’t see coming was Gutierrez coming out to the mound with his bat, and then trying to throw his bat at the pitcher at close range.
Thankfully he didn’t make contact, but then things really escalated. Even when it seemed like things were calming down, former Cub Junior Lake and former Braves player Peter O’Brien start a second scrape and the brawl starts going all over the field. It looks like Lake was flying all over:
¡Aaatangana! Otra bronca más 😟, ahora le pegaron a Gabriel Gutiérrez que contestó lanzando su bat al pitcher. Después Junior Lake y Peter O’Brien sacaron sus dotes luchísticos…
8 🔽 | 🚂 Rieleros 3-5 Toros 🐂#TorosImponentes #LMB #PasiónRielera pic.twitter.com/uYalsoXlhw
— Internetv Deportes (@AYMSports) June 24, 2021
Three players were ejected, and eventually Fernando Rodney – still pitching! – would come in to save the game. Lake, who last played with the Cubs in 2015 and only just turned 31, is currently hitting a solid .308/.403/.433 in the Mexican League.