On this date in 2017, Detroit Tigers’ future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine of the New York Yankees fought and the benches cleared.
In case you had forgotten about this, Brad Galli has you covered.
On this date in 2017: Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine fought and the Tigers and Yankees benches cleared
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) August 24, 2022
Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine fight as Tigers and Yankees benches clear
The breakdown began in the fifth inning, when Tigers starter Michael Fulmer plunked Sanchez with a pitch, an inning after Sanchez had hit his fourth home run of the series. New York’s Tommy Kahnle then threw behind Miguel Cabrera, which led to an immediate ejection.
Aroldis Chapman entered the game after Kahnle, but before he threw a single pitch to Cabrera, the Tigers slugger had an altercation at the plate with Yankees catcher Austin Romine. Words were exchanged, and Cabrera began throwing punches before being taken to the ground. Both dugouts and bullpens spilled out onto the field, and order was not restored for numerous minutes.
During the scuffle, Sanchez was seen throwing sucker punches at both Cabrera and third baseman Nicholas Castellanos while both were in prone positions.
In the seventh inning, Yankees reliever Dellin Betances drilled Tigers catcher James McCann in the helmet with a pitch, which led to another immediate ejection. While it sounds scarier than it actually turned out to be, McCann came out of the beaning unscathed. Both benches again emptied out onto the field.
The final chapter of the saga was in the eighth inning when Wilson nailed Yankees’ third baseman, Todd Frazier, in the thigh with a pitch. Wilson was immediately tossed and later admitted after the game that the plunking was intentional.
Fulmer, Betances, and Yankees reliever David Robertson, who also hit a Tigers hitter in the game (John Hicks), did not receive any sort of punishment as MLB deemed that neither act by them was intentional.
Both Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and Yankees manager Joe Girardi were ejected in the contest as well. Yankees bench coach Rob Thomson, who was serving as the acting manager when Girardi was ejected, was also later tossed in the game.
In total, eight players and coaches — five Yankees and three Tigers — were given the heave-ho for their participation in the brawl.
Nation, do you think Miguel Cabrera was right to shove Austin Romine?
