Whether or not he intended to drill the Orioles' Manny Machado with a 99-mph first-pitch fastball on Tuesday night, Royals righty Yordano Ventura has lost the benefit of the doubt with his history of inciting brawls and dust-ups.
Both Ventura and Machado are sure to see suspensions for their roles in the altercation. In addition, Ventura further entrenched himself as the torchbearer for one of the "characters" covered below.
This nonexhaustive list doesn't feature every basebrawl character to ever crash the field and shout, but these are many of the most common and entertaining actors.
Let's cut to Ventura -- whose fastball is as hot as his temper is short. Which is to say, very. At only 24 years of age there's already a growing library of videos in which he's front and center in a tense exchange, a brawl waiting to happen or a full-fledged melee.
Of course, just as often, a batter or position player will ignite a brouhaha. Here's Gary Sheffield in action in 2008 when he charged Indians pitcher Francisco Carmona from first base:
And here's the classic A-Rod-Jason Varitek fight:
Watch Rick Porcello back away from Kevin Youkilis in 2009, nearly running away from the charging charging Greek God of Walks before accepting his fate. Incredibly, Porcello, who now plays for Boston, was able to use Youkilis' own momentum against him in what looks almost like a lateral drop resulting in good position on the ground.
Mayday! Mayday!
It's an ensemble cast and they're always a little late because they have some ground to cover, but sure enough they always show and it's a glorious sight.
With James Shields and Coco Crisp. Ultimate fighters, or any kind of fighters, they are not.
Through his work enforcing the unwritten rulebook prohibition against admiring a home run blast for an unreasonable length of time, Brian McCann became the preeminent master of the unwritten rulebook. They exchange lots of words and unpleasantries, demand respect, and end up losing some.
Watch out for Kyle Farnsworth.
They almost always prevail, eventually, and it usually looks like this -- with a couple calm guys leading the one who's fired up away from the scene like a caravan.
Not to be confused with the "hold me back" guys.
In April 2000, the Tigers and White Sox threw down not once but twice. In total, five batters got hit by pitches and 11 players were ejected. And one player fired a classic shot after the melees. "Bottom line is, we won the game and we killed them," said White Sox pitcher Jim Parque. "I hope they have enough guys so we can beat them again."
Rest in peace former Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer, whom Pedro Martinez infamously shoved to the ground during a Yankees-Red Sox brawl during the Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS.
Sometimes tempers flare, a fight breaks out and then ends, but bad blood festers and later in the game, the players get at each others' necks again. Take this Dodgers-Diamondbacks game in June 2013 for example. (Let's play two!)
Starring Shane Victorino and Hiroki Kuroda.
Former White Sox and now Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija.
I know some of you are tired of hearing about this one but... it was a good shot.
Keep an eye on the end of the bench.
[Related: 6 of the worst punches ever thrown in baseball brawls]
Jim Parque of the Chicago White Sox in 2002
SAMARDZIJA THOUGH *fanning myself* ? RT @bigleaguestew: Great AP photo from Royals/White Sox brawl. pic.twitter.com/guFxLCUqJ1 (via @KCTV5)
— Josephine Lin (@josephinelin) April 24, 2015
