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On March 22, 1989, Benches clear twice and six players are ejected as the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates get into a spring training brawl.
âIt was sort of fun,â said manager Nick Leyva. âI didnât see any good punches, but we had a few real good pileups. The only problem was we didnât have a whole lot of guys on the trip and we were outmanned for that kind of stuff.â The trouble began when Don Carman knocked down the Piratesâ Bobby Bonilla with a high, inside pitch on an 0-1 count. Bonilla started walking to the mound, only to be stopped by Phillies catcher Tom Nieto as the benches and bullpens emptied. âBonilla is a big guy who we want to pitch inside so he doesnât extend those arms,â said Leyva. âDonnie just got it in a lot, and I guess Bonilla doesnât like that too much.â No punches were thrown, but just as things were quieting down, the Philsâ Dickie Thon and Pittsburghâs Barry Bonds started mixing it up, with Thon wrestling Bonds to the ground. Bonilla, Bonds and Thon were ejected, but things didnât stay quiet for long. Pittsburgh manager Jim Leyland began arguing with the home-plate umpire, Bob Davidsonâ, who earlier had ejected the Philsâ Bob Dernier for arguing a ball-strike call. Leyland was arguing that Carman should also have been ejected. When the argument escalated, Leyland was thrown out. As he started to leave the field, Leyland exchanged words with the Philsâ pitching coach, Darold Knowles, and with Carman. Leyland then headed for the mound and the benches emptied once again. Later, Pittsburghâs R.J. Reynolds was ejected for hollering at Davidson from the Piratesâ bench. âI wasnât trying to hit anybody, but when Leyland started yelling at me, Ifinally said come on,â said Carman. Said Leyva: âDonnie isnât a good guy to mess with. He works out every day with Gus Hoefling, and if he started throwing those leg kicks around, some guys would have started going down.â (Hoefling is the teamâs strength and flexibility instructor.)
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