Baseball Brawl of the Week: Nationals vs. Marlins - 9/1/2010
Nyjer Morgan, or Tony Plush as he referred to himself when he played, capped off his 2010 late summer anarchic baseball bender by going rogue and inciting a bench clearing brawl between the Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins on September 1, 2010.
Leading up to this brawl, Morgan terrorized the MLB like a great white off Amity Island:
- August 25, 2010: Morgan receives 7 game suspension for throwing a ball at a fan in Philadelphia
- August 28, 2010: Morgan crushes Cardinals backup catcher Bryan Anderson en route to home plate. Anderson did not have the ball and was not standing in Morgan's path to the plate.
- August 31, 2010: Morgan runs into Florida Marlins catcher Brett Hayes, separating Hayes' shoulder
Which brings us to the night in question, September 1, 2010. In the next game after Morgan trucked, and injured, their catcher, Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad beamed Morgan in the 4th inning as retribution. Morgan, showing a complete lack of respect for baseball's unwritten 'code,' proceeded to steal second and then third. The Marlins took exception to this and in his next at bat, up 15-5 in the top of the 6th, Volstad threw behind Morgan. Morgan then charged the mound and landed one semi-decent left hook with Volstad's neck before getting hammered with an atomic clothesline from Marlins one bagger Gaby Sanchez. Both dugouts and bullpens then cleared and a massive scrum ensued in the middle of the infield with Nationals' third base coach Pat Listach even taking part in the fracas - tackling Volstad and wrestling him underneath the pile.
Morgan left the field with his jersey unbuttoned and stretched, gesturing to the crowd like he had just won the heavyweight world championship. But anyone who watched the fight can agree that Morgan definitely lost this one. That clothesline he suffered might as well have been a TKO.
Morgan was suspended 8 games and fined an undisclosed amount for his role in the brawl, all while his 7 game suspension from a week earlier was under appeal. Morgan's Washington teammate, pitcher Doug Slaten, was suspended for three games as was third base coach Pat Lisch. Nationals manager Jim Riggleman was suspended for 2 game. As for Florida, pitcher Chris Volstad was suspended 6 games, pitcher Alex Sanabia for 5, first baseman Gaby Sanchez for 3, and manager Edwin Rodriguez for 1.
So the Summer of Nyjer concluded in the only way it really could have, with a bench clearing brawl and a significant suspension.
Here is a link to a video of the fight:
