MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL BRAWLS

CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL BRAWL

In the picture of the baseball brawl, more than a team's worth of players are shown in various stages of beating each other up. It is possible that some of the players are trying to break up the fight, Number 35, for example, but it is not immediately clear whether they are effective, or even whether that is their goal. So-called bench-clearing fights are not common occurrences at baseball games, but they happen occasionally, and at nearly every level of play. Even professional teams, who ostensibly have the most to lose from suspensions and other punishments, can be involved in these melees. In this analysis, possible causes and effects of this fight are considered.

The immediate cause of this particular brawl might be that a pitch came too close to the batter, and the batter--as well as his team--felt that the pitcher threw the brushback ball on purpose. A baseball pitch is thrown at significant speed, and can cause significant injury, particularly when thrown at a player's head--the so-called beanball. Such a pitch is considered by players to be an attack on all of them, and so players will often charge the field in order to defend their batter. At the same time, players from the opposing team come into the infield to defend their pitcher, and the general brawl begins. Coaches and managers typically do not get involved in the fight itself, but may not move to break it up immediatel

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threat to one of the tribe's members. Similarly, the response of the fielding team is the response of a tribe who is attacked by another. Once the fight breaks out, the pitcher's team feels compelled to come to the defense of their member. CONTRIBUTORY CAUSES There are contributory causes that are also likely to come into play. The crowd may be egging the players on, glad to see the excitement of a fight in which no one really believes that anyone will get seriously hurt. Similarly, this may not be the first pitch that was thrown at a batter during this game. The batter's pitcher may have thrown a pitch at a member of the other team in an earlier inning, for example. Or, this pitcher may have thrown at other batters. It is also possible that other slights have been registered on both sides over the course of the game. Base runners and basemen may have traded insults over the course of the game, and catchers often insult batters as a way of distracting them (Haberman B1). If the game had already reached a level of oral abuse, the step to physical violence is much easier to take since the emotional atmosphere is already highly charged. IMMEDIATE EFFECT The most immediate effect of the brawl is that the player perceived

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