Baseball Brawl of the Week: Giants vs. Dodgers - 8/22/1965

We feature an old school brawl on this week's edition of Brawl of the Week. These two familiar foes have a long standing rivalry dating back to when both teams were in New York and have continued their feud since their West Coast relocation. On this particular late summer afternoon in 1965 the two teams' dislike for each other was on full display as Giants' pitcher Juan Marichal hit two Dodgers batters with brush back pitches. Dodgers' ace Sandy Koufax did not retaliate against Marichal when he was up to bat, but Los Angeles catcher Johnny Roseboro was more than happy to oblige, throwing his return balls to Koufax dangerously close to Marichal's head. On one throw back, Marichal claimed the ball clipped his ear and he and Roseboro began to argue before Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with his BAT. A bench clearing brawl ensued and not one, but TWO players entered the melee wielding bats. The fight was eventually broken up by Willie Mays and Koufax and Mays even helped the severely bleeding Roseboro off the field. The brawl might have been relatively short, but what it lacked in duration it more than made up for in intensity. Using a bat as a weapon is assault in society, but in a baseball fight it's downright diabolical.

Here is a video of the Brawl: