If you search the internet, it isn’t difficult to locate old videos of baseball games. There are plenty of interesting and noteworthy Met videos. I located an interesting grouping of these last week. These were all videos showing classic bouts between the Mets and the Reds. I use the term “bout” because all of these videos involve fisticuffs.
Video one was from the NCLS in 1973: In the fifth inning of game three with the Mets ahead 9-2, Pete Rose slides hard at second in an attempt to disrupt a double play. Bud Harrelson takes offense to the move and gives Rose a shove and the two of them get into a fight with both benches clearing. After the melee, the fans at Shea Stadium hurl things including bottles at Pete Rose in left field. Sparky Anderson temporarily pulls his team off the field and finally, after Yogi Berra, Willie Mays, et al. appeal to the Met fans, order is restored.
After the fight, Harrelson showed up with band-aids on his Superman t-shirt. Some say Rose picked this fight on purpose to motivate his team. It ended up not helping the Reds though and they lost to the Mets in five games.
New York Mets 1, Cincinnati Reds 0.
Video two was from July in 1986: In the 10th inning, outfielder Eric Davis of the Reds, slides in hard in a successful steal of third base. Ray Knight bumps Davis as he stands up and after a few words and shoves are exchanged, Knight scores a direct hit on Davis’ chin. Both benches clear, Kevin Mitchell brawls so hard that he ends up spitting blood that evening. Ex-Red, George Foster, chooses to remain in the dugout. The Mets eventually win in the 14th inning on a Howard Johnson home run.
The fight served to put further notice to the league that the Mets were a team to be reckoned with.
New York Mets 2, Cincinnati Reds 0.
Video three was from July in 1989: Tim Teufel faces Rob Dibble in a lopsided Mets victory. Teufel has already gone 4-for-4. Dibble drills Teufel in the back and strides towards him as he picks himself up. After a few words, they start fighting which eventually ends in a brawl. Bill Robinson, the Mets coach ends up having to be pulled off Dibble. Juan Samuel engages with Norm Charlton. After being removed to the sidelines once, Dibble runs back into the pack and starts in again. After the game, Charlton called the Mets’ clubhouse and challenged Samuel again. Eventually, Darryl Strawberry got on the phone and offered to meet him in the tunnel beneath Shea Stadium. Security eventually stepped in and diffused the situation with this final group of players including Charlton, Tom Browning, and Danny Jackson of the Reds along with Samuel and Strawberry of the Mets.
New York Mets 3, Cincinnati Reds 0.
How would you rate these iconic moments in our club’s history?
Sure, Tim Teufel looks like he could be a math professor. But I know one thing – I’m not starting a fight with him.
there was an interesting side note or two. One was that reports surfaced that Samuel had actually tried to kick Charlton in the chin….and the other is that there is another video of Dibble throwing directly into the back of a runner instead of trying to get him out; not a Met player but truly bizarre….
I’m also not sure if the player Pete Rose got into a fight with in the locker room was Dibble but that was around this time too.
I wonder if Dibble was a ‘ roid rage case.
While I’m not a proponent of fighting, at least it shows passion. Something I hope this year’s Mets club has a little more of.
Jim
Great article…As for rating them in history…Every true Met fan knows, there was Harrelson / Rose, all the others are mere footnotes in comparison.
Jake