A baseball game we play each summer is “The baseball quiz”. We try to guess the stats of random star players like how many hits did Rid Carew have in his career, how many homers did Dwight Evans have in his career… You get the idea.
A new twist this year is to construct a line up you would want if you needed to win a game. Our standard bet is not to save the universe or your life but for $1. That’s right $1 like Randolph and Mortimer, I hang with competitive people we want to win regardless of the stakes.
The ultimate line up’s from our “Do you know sports” guys. They need a player for each position, a DH, starting pitcher, relief pitcher and one utility player. I also threw in my team I would want if we were in a bench clearing brawl. I mean an actual brawl not the posturing hugging match, talk trash until one of my teammates can hold me back because I really don’t want to fight brawl. A real fight!
| Team—> | Worm | MJ Madness | The Joker |
| C | Johnny Bench | Ivan Rodriguez | Mike Piazza |
| 1B | George Brett | Mike Schmidt | Mark McGwire |
| 2B | Jeff Kent | Roberto Alomar | Roberto Alomar |
| 3B | Mike Schmidt | Wade Boggs | Alex Rodriguez |
| SS | Ozzie Smith | Cal Ripken Jr. | Call Ripken Jr. |
| LF | Rickey Henderson | Barry Bonds | Barry Bonds |
| CF | Ken Griffey Jr. | Ken Griffey Jr. | Ken Griffey Jr. |
| RF | Vladimir Guerrero | Tony Gwynn | Tony Gwynn |
| Utility | Pete Rose | Pete Rose | Pete Rose |
| Starter | Pedro Martinez | Pedro Martinez | Greg Maddux |
| Closer | Mariano Rivera | Mariano Rivera | Mariano Rivera |
Toughest Calls for the Worm – Rickey over Barry Bonds and PED’s had nothing to do with the choice.
Pedro over Randy Johnson is like splitting hairs as you would get similar results for two very different packages.
Shocker – MJ Madness had a man crush on Greg Maddux in high school and picked Pedro!
Questionable Call – MJ Madness moving Michael Jack Schmidt to first base, he was after all primarily a gold glove thrid baseman.
The All-Brawl Team 1980 to present
Just click the hyperlinks to watch some of their brawling highlights.
C – Thurman Munson – I know he didn’t make it to the 80’s but he would of if it wasn’t for the plane crash. Close runner up Carton Fisk and Jason Varitek.
1B – George Brett- he has some of the best fights and instances of losing his mind and the best part is it is usually against the Yankees. Runner up was Frank Thomas, he never had to fight and there is a reason why, he is HUGE!
2B – Craig Biggio – A tough position to pick a fighter. I went with Biggio because he has the most career hit by pitches and figure he could take a punch. Runner up Jeff Kent because anyone willing to fight a roided up teammate must have some fighting ability.
SS – Cal Ripken Jr. – He has the stamina to fight longer than anyone based on his durability to play so many games in a row.
3B – Graig Nettles – He was always up for a fight and even his name sounds mean. Runner up George Brett.
*I chose outfielders that were a bit on the loopy/psycho side due to how far away from the action the outfield is positioned. I envision these lunatics in two ways possibly helping our brawl. The first way is not running to the infield because there services will not be needed (We already have the toughest guys there it will be over by the time they get to the infield dirt) but they immediately run and take out the opposing teams bullpen as they try to reach the infield. The other option is they come in like the cavalry if our infielders are not getting the job done and go bat shit crazy wiping everyone out.
LF – Milton Bradley – He is a fighter even if he tore his ACL while getting big held back by his manager before he ripped the head off an umpire.
CF – Carl Everett – He thinks dinosaurs did not exist and the moon landing was faked. He also played with an edge or should I say over the edge.
RF – Reggie Sanders – He charged the mound when Pedro Martinez hit him which is not that weird Pedro hit a lot of batters. He is a special kind of crazy though because he thought Pedro did it on purpose even though he was five outs away from a perfect game.
Outfield Runner Up – Izzy Alcantra – he only had a cup of coffee in the majors but his minor league fight was nothing short of spectacular. He wanted the pitcher but he had the foresight to take out the catcher first so he could get to the pitcher.
SP – Nolan Ryan – The beating he gave Robin Ventura is how ever pitcher should deal with someone that charges the mound. That Ryan and Ventura fight was special it had Bo Jackson peace keeping and that’s a good think Bo knows fighting. Runner up is Pete Vuckovich just for how tough he looked and his role as Clu Haywood in the movie Major League.
RP – Mitch Williams – he is the only person in our bullpen. He will help the outfielders take out our opponents pen or bean someone to start the brawl. Runner up is Lee Smith same reason as Frank Thomas he is HUGE! When Lee Smith held the ball Ut looked like he was holding a ping pong ball for crying out loud.
UTL – Pete Rose – Ray Fosse. I think sums up his resume.
Manager – Earl Weaver – he will take out the umpires trying to break up the fight. Runner up has to be Don Zimmer who went after Pedro Martinez during a bench clearer even though he was in his seventies. I guess we could make him our bench coach.
Top baseball fights
jeffreybelanger 
Great idea! For me, Kyle Farnsworth has to be the reliever. He was huge, cracked skulls, and had a habit of meeting the guy charging the mound halfway.