As far as bench-clearing basebrawls go, the fight that broke out in the bottom of the eighth inning of the New York Mets' game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday hit all the right notes. You've got your frustrated Mets, seething about getting repeatedly plunked at the plate; apparent retaliation from Mets reliever Yoan Lopez, who zipped a fastball high and inside and later said, naturally, that the pitch got away from him; a tackle from Cardinals first-base coach, the fantastically named Stubby Clapp; a Cardinals pitcher flipping over the bullpen wall instead of using the stairs; and a post-game brawl debrief in which Mets star Pete Alonso called himself a "big strong guy" multiple times. These are the moments baseball fans live for.
It all started in the top of the eighth when Mets hitter J.D. Davis was drilled in the foot by a pitch from Genesis Cabrera and had to leave the game.
The Mets, who lead the MLB in HBPs this season—19 so far, including three from Tuesday night's game against the Cardinals—seemed to retaliate immediately, with Lopez throwing a pitch near Nolan Arenado's head.
Arenado yelled at Lopez to "do it again" and then both teams jumped out of their dugouts.
If you keep an eye on the left side of the scrum, you'll see Cardinals first-base coach Stubby Clapp grab Mets slugger Pete Alonso from behind and execute a bodyslam. Stubby looked like he was having a great time:
Another angle shows Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos vaulting over the bullpen wall and sprinting to the melee.
The postgame interviews were pretty typical, with each team taking exception with the other team's actions while taking no issue with their own, but it was Alonso, the guy who got thrown to the ground by a guy named Stubby, who gave the funniest set of quotes. You already know things are going in the right direction when Alonso starts his answer by talking about how it felt to "get domed up" during Tuesday's game, and then he just keeps talking about what a big strong guy he is.
"I'm big guy, a big strong guy, obviously the manager wants to have protection for his team."
"For me, I'm a big strong guy, they don't know my temper, they don't know what I could do. I mean, if I wanted to put someone in the hospital I easily could, but I was just out there trying to protect my guys."
So let the record show: Stubby Clapp really knows how to mix it up and Pete Alonso is a big strong guy.
