The on-field skirmish Aug. 10 between the Cardinals and Reds in Cincinnati was a humdinger. It sparked memories of the battle royale that broke out between the same two clubs on July 3, 1967, at St. Louis. Boxscore
The Reds, trying to stay in the 1967 pennant race with the Cardinals and Cubs, were stunned, humiliated, as St. Louis built a 7-0 lead in the first inning in support of Bob Gibson.
With two out, Lou Brock attempted to steal second.
He was unsuccessful. But, to the Reds, it was unnecessary, piling on.
When Brock next came to bat, leading off the fourth with St. Louis still ahead 7-0, Reds reliever Don Nottebart drilled him with a pitch.
Gibson knew what to do next. Tony Perez led off the Cincinnati fifth. Gibson unleashed a fastball that sailed toward Perez’s ear. He dived to the dirt to avoid being hit.
On the next pitch, Perez flied out to right. On his way to the dugout, he crossed in front of the mound and said something to Gibson that the pitcher later described as “uncharacteristically nasty.”
Gibson took a few steps toward Perez. So did Cardinals first baseman Orlando Cepeda. This star-studded convergence of future Hall of Famers caused both benches to empty.
No punches were thrown. Just when it appeared order was being restored, the Reds relievers came storming onto the field from the bullpen. They were led by Bob Lee, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound hulk who made a beeline for Cepeda.
Fights erupted. According to the book “El Birdos” (Doug Feldman, 2007 McFarland & Co.), Cepeda punched Pete Rose three times in the back of the head. Gibson wrestled with Reds second baseman Tommy Helms as the fight spilled into a dugout. When Rose and others went to Helms’ rescue, Gibson began grabbing Reds players off the dugout floor and hurled them, one by one, onto the field. Cardinals outfielder Bobby Tolan, watching from the top dugout step, dived into the pile of brawlers to help Gibson.
According to multiple published accounts, it took 20 St. Louis policemen 12 minutes to break up the fights. One policeman, Robert Casey, suffered a dislocated jaw in the fracas.
About 25 players and coaches were treated for wounds, mostly cuts and bruises. Among the injured: Gibson (jammed right thumb), Helms (chipped tooth), Nottebart (facial cuts) and Reds manager Dave Bristol (gashed leg).
Gibson, who was crafting a perfect game (the first 13 batters were retired, nine on strikeouts) before the fights began, stayed in, lasted 7.2 innings and got the win in a 7-3 Cardinals victory.
Gibson said the fight “lit a fire” in the Cardinals and helped propel them to the pennant and the World Series championship that season.
This year’s Cardinals, who swept the three-game series in Cincinnati this week and took sole possession of first place in the Central, surely hope their slugfest with the Reds will do the same.
Hahaha -
I was at that game, and it was a total riot to watch. Everything written here is true, as far as I recall. We were totally amazed to watch this happen. I still remember the Cardinals having that 7-0 lead and Brock stealing 2B, Gibson’s pitch. Perez gave some kind of look back at Gibson, I can tell you. Then Perez “stopping by the mound” on his way back, and Cepeda rushing toward the mound. I can see the bullpens emptying, and fights going on all over the field. All I can add is that I recall Alvin Jackson was getting beat up in the 3B dugout, and Gibson went in to take on his attackers.
Like any brawl, it was difficult to tell all that was going on – but all of us in the stands enjoyed the whole spectacle. A fight between the great Cardinals 1967 team and the early stages of the Big Red Machine – how many can say that?
I also was in attendance on April 22, 2000 at Comiskey Park when the White Sox and Tigers got involved in not one, not two, but THREE melees in one game!
Ohmygod, was THAT one a hoot! It happened also that Chris Singleton was 5-for-5 that day, but who noticed? It was a beanball war. I recall Dean Palmer getting tossed after the first fight – and then he came back out for the later fights! Magglio Ordoñez was cornered near 2B by two Tigers and had to kick his way out of a scrape. Detroit Catcher Robert Fick I always considered a criminal for the way he cheap-shotted people and then flipped the RF fans the bird as he left after being ejected. With 2 outs in the 9th, when the Sox were one HBP behind in the “standings,” we were saying that Bobby Howry only had this one batter left, that if he was to do something, he’d best do it now – when, all of a sudden, he hit the batter, Shane Halter, and we were off to the fights again! We were SO ready for that one!
3 Tigers and 2 White Sox were hit by pitches during the game, and some other chin music was offered up along the way. The umps really had their hands full that day. We had really great seats for watching that day, above 3B in the 2nd row. But there was so much going on at once – fights literally all over the infield, but I can’t recall any fighting in the dugouts like in 1967. I DO recall seeing Dean Palmer coming out of the passage behind the dugout for the last and thinking, “Oh, man, is HE going to get nailed for that!”
See http://sportslawnews.com/archive/Articles%202000/WhiteSoxTigersBrawl.htm
But the article is wrong – there were THREE fights, not two fights that day. There were 11 ejections and 16 suspended. I looked around the internet, and all of them say two fights – but I assure you there were three. With FIVE guys getting plunked, how could there only be two? I think the news people just tried to not play it up too big – and only the people there would really know.
With two outs in the 9th, doing it again, we all got a feeling of satisfaction, that our team hadn’t let it pass without getting even. One last time.
That was THE legendary fight in Chicago. So I got to be in attendance at two of baseball’s greatest brawls. Somebody had to be! I told people at the Sox game, “Oh, you should have seen the fight in 1967 between Bob Gibson, Orlando Cepeda, Tony Perez and the Cardinals and Reds – now THAT was a brawl! People came out of the stands, and a cop even got a broken jaw!”
Sometimes you just are in the right place at the right time.
Thank you for sharing this remembrance and for reading my blog. It’s terrific to get a firsthand account from someone who was there.
I too was at that Cardinal game and it was in St. Louis not Cincinnatti. Of interest to note is that the fight lasted 20 minutes yet with Gibson on the mound the game was finished in 2 hours and 20 minutes
John: Thank you for your comment. What a sight that must have been. _ Mark