Benchclearing: Baseball's Greatest Fights and Riots

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 304 pages
• Published by: The Lyons Press March 7, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1599210525
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1599210520
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 15.2 ounces

Back Cover Copy
Admit it—you take a certain pleasure in witnessing baseball's embarrassing moments, those melees that bring tussling players, ejections, and tarnished reputations. In Benchclearing, journalist Spike Vrusho places you smack dab in the middle of the greatest and most infamous brawls, fistfights, and pile-on game-stoppers, including those that swept fans along for the ride. These are the stories Major League Baseball would prefer to forget, but fans love to relive. Among the incidents included are:
Red Sox hurler Pedro Martinez’s throw-down of Yankees coach Don Zimmer in the 2003 ALCS
Nolan Ryan's Texas-style whupping of White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura
Juan Marichal’s bat vs. Johnny Roseboro's head-the bloodiest moment in the long history of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry
Fan behavior at its worst, including Chicago's Disco Demolition Night and Cleveland's Ten-Cent Beer Night
An entire chapter devoted to the pugilistic exploits of Yankee legend Billy Martin
Battles involving well-known hotheads from Ty Cobb to Leo Durocher to Roger Clemens
 

About The Author
Spike Vrusho was the editor-in-chief of the brilliant but short-lived New York Sports Express. Before that he was a writer for New York Press through the 1990s to 2002. He now lives and writes in Rhinebeck, NY.

Reader Reviews
Baseball brawls (or, as some refer to them, basebrawls) are seldom very violent, often look foolish, but also engender lots of debate and discussion. This volume focuses on, as the subtitle refers to it, "Baseball's Greatest Fights and Riots." The author notes that (Page 3): "Baseball fights, though often considered predictable dramas--especially once the Greek chorus arrives from the distant bullpen to assist in the standing around and milling about--at least provide a new perspective on the use of the field." The heart of the book is the description of some famous brawls (and brawlers) over time. Think things get spicy now? Pages 6-8 outline Ty Cobb's greatest hits--or brawls. Cobb was a nasty customer, and these vignettes give a sense of his persona. And then there was the conflict between pitcher Juan Marichal and catcher John Roseboro in 1965. The Giants and Dodgers hat a heated rivalry--going back to their days in New York. Here, things got out of control and Marichal, at bat, began using his bat on Roseboro, the catcher. Ugly incident. . . . After page 186, there are several photos of some of the battles that have taken place in baseball. They give a flavor of what the action can look like. Chapter 19--a whole chapter on Billy Martin! Amazing reading of the spirit of a person out of control at times. So, what of this volume? Hardly a deep, philosophical piece. But if you want a sense of the hard edged side of baseball leading up to brawls, this is a useful introduction.