Predictably, a brawl involving two of the most temperamental characters in the major leagues, “The Mad Hungarian” and “One Tough Dominican,” was both intense and cartoonish.
On May 6, 1977, a melee among the Astros and Cardinals occurred in the ninth inning of a game at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
Astros batter Cesar Cedeno took issue with being drilled by a pitch from Cardinals reliever Al Hrabosky, the self-psyching showman known as “The Mad Hungarian.”
When Cedeno charged the mound, both dugouts emptied and fights erupted across the field, lasting 10 minutes before the game could resume.
Besides Hrabosky and Cedeno, the most prominent combatants included:
_ Joaquin Andujar, the Astros pitcher and self-proclaimed “One Tough Dominican,” who, like Cedeno, would play for the Cardinals in the 1980s.
_ Ted Simmons, the strong-willed Cardinals catcher and on-field leader.
_ Roger Freed, the burly and popular Cardinals pinch-hitter.
_ Dave Rader, a Cardinals backup catcher and former all-league high school football linebacker.
_ Cliff Johnson, a strapping 6-foot-4 Astros power hitter.
Asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to summarize the histrionics, Astros player Enos Cabell aptly declared, “It was a goodie.”
Slap happy
Tension developed in the seventh inning. With the Cardinals ahead, 2-0, Johnson was grazed by a pitch from starter Pete Falcone.
Simmons, crouched behind the plate, and Johnson exchanged words.
“He didn’t think I got hit,” Johnson told the Post-Dispatch.
In what he said was a playful gesture, Johnson slapped Simmons in the head.
“I told him, ‘Clifford, relax,’ ” Simmons said. “He told me, ‘Take it easy.’ ”
Said Johnson: “I was just trying to get his attention.”
In the eighth, Hrabosky relieved Falcone and retired the Astros in order. The Cardinals scored twice in the bottom half of the inning and took a 4-0 lead into the ninth.
Mind games
As Cedeno approached the plate to lead off the ninth, Hrabosky went behind the mound, turned his back on the batter and went into his self-motivating meditation act.
Miffed, Cedeno left the batter’s box, went to the on-deck circle, used a rag to apply pine tar to his bat handle and waited for Hrabosky to get onto the mound.
Home plate umpire Bob Engel “waved in disgust” for Hrabosky to pitch, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Hrabosky “threw up his hands in seeming protest,” wrote Rick Hummel.
The first pitch, a fastball, plunked Cedeno in the left arm.
Cedeno dropped his bat and advanced toward the mound. Hrabosky dropped his glove and waited.
As they neared, Cedeno threw a punch. Hrabosky ducked, avoiding the blow.
“If I get knocked down, I’m in a world of trouble,” Hrabosky said.
Simmons stormed toward Cedeno and jumped on his back.
Bedlam reigns
Battles broke out all over.
Andujar, at the center of a fight near the third-base line, swung wildly in every direction. One of his swipes nearly clipped umpire Bill Williams in the jaw.
After Williams ejected Andujar, the pitcher desperately tried to get at the umpire and had to be restrained by coach Deacon Jones and teammate Bob Watson. Colleague John McSherry prevented Williams from going after Andujar, according to United Press International.
Cedeno was involved in multiple skirmishes, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Simmons, after rescuing Hrabosky, dived “into a pileup in an attempt at peacemaking.” When he emerged, Simmons shed “his catching equipment, with the exception of one shin guard, and motioned the Astros to come after him if they wished,” Hummel reported.
Though some Astros moved toward him, none dared take on Simmons.
“They were doing a lot of woofing,” Simmons said.
Johnson, the Astros outfielder, tried to lighten the mood by shadow boxing some of the Cardinals, comically tugging at an umpire’s jacket and pretending to kick another umpire in the rear.
As the field began to clear, Cedeno and Freed got into a fight near the first-base line. While the two threw punches, Rader bolted toward Cedeno, tackled him around the midsection and drove him back 15 yards, Hummel wrote. Video
Show goes on
Andujar and Freed were the only players ejected.
When the game resumed, Hrabosky and Simmons still were the St. Louis battery and Cedeno was the base runner at first.
Cedeno swiped second and Watson drew a walk.
Hrabosky got Joe Ferguson to hit into a third-to-first double play, with Watson taking second. Johnson doubled, driving in Watson and making the score 4-1.
Art Howe walked, bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Hrabosky finally ended the drama by getting Cabell to line out to shortstop Garry Templeton. Boxscore
Lighten up
Hrabosky claimed the pitch that struck Cedeno wasn’t intentional. “I just thought it was an inside pitch,” he told the Associated Press. “I’ve been told there are certain people I’m supposed to pitch up and in. I know there’s a certain way I have to pitch him and I’m going to do it.”
Said Simmons: “I didn’t call for it (a brushback pitch). I think you have to assume it was an accident.”
The Astros weren’t buying that explanation. “There should have been more punches thrown,” said Watson. “You don’t hit a man and get away with it. It was flagrant. The umpire should have kicked Hrabosky out.”
In the clubhouse, after tempers cooled, Johnson, the prankster, waited for Cedeno to head to the showers and placed an autographed photo of Hrabosky on his teammate’s chair. The picture was inscribed, “Next time, it’ll be two.”
When Cedeno returned to his locker and saw the photo, he looked around the clubhouse, yelled, “Damn you, Johnson,” and laughed.
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