Phillies/Padres Brawl of 1985

When the Phillies and Padres brawled in 1985, pitcher John Denny and infielder Tim Flannery began slugging each other near third base. San Diego's backup catcher, Bruce Bochy and closer Goose Gossage hopped the bullpen fence.

After 10 seasons of professional squatting, seven of them in the big leagues, Bochy's feet tended to kick out when he walked, an endless source of amusement for his teammates. Unfortunately for the Padres' relievers, the combination of having to navigate both the bullpen mound and the catcher's extremities while keeping their eyes on the fight proved to be too much; pitchers Tim Stoddard and Greg Booker clipped Bochy's ankles, and all 3 tumbled to the ground.

"I give myself credit because I was the first one out of the bullpen," said Bochy. "Unfortunately, I couldn't run very well, so everyone was catching up... Those two guys who went over me are probably 500 pounds alone, and then myself, so the guys behind them all went down also. We were all just laying there on the ground, laughing. Meanwhile, Flannery's getting beat up awhile, so he's wondering where we were."

Even before they made the move to San Francisco, Bochy and Flannery were quite the tandem.


Kevin J. Marquez

Today is Game One of the 2014 World Series between the home team Kansas City Royals and the visiting San Francisco Giants.