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EspañolBENCH-CLEARING BRAWL
A 'bench-clearing brawl', sometimes known as a 'basebrawl', is a form of ritualistic fighting that occurs in sports, most notably baseball and ice hockey, in which both teams leave their dugouts, bullpens, or benches and charge the field or ice surface in order to fight one another.
In baseball, brawls are usually the result of escalating infractions, often stemming from being hit by pitch, or an altercation between a baserunner and infielder stemming from excessive contact in an attempted tag out. They are also known to occur when a batter charges the mound. However, few bench-clearing brawls result in serious injury. In most cases, no punches are thrown, and the action is limited to pushing and shoving. Since a bench-clearing brawl by definition involves everyone on both teams, it is exceedingly rare for all participants to be ejected, even though the pitcher or batter responsible for the precipitating event is often ejected.
Unlike most other team sports, in which teams usually have an equivalent number of players on the field at any given time, in baseball the batting team is at a numerical disadvantage, with a maximum of 5 players on the field at any time, compared to the fielding team's 9 players. For this reason, leaving the dugout to join a fight is generally considered acceptable in that it results in numerical equivalence on the field, and a fairer fight.
As in baseball, hockey brawls usually result from escalating infractions; in this case, dangerous hits, excessive post-whistle roughness, attacking the goaltender, and accumulated hatred from fierce competition in a game with a significant amount of condoned inter-player violence, all contribute to bench-clearing brawls. In the National Hockey League, the penalties include a 10-game suspension and a fine of $10,000 [1] for the first player to leave their bench (the international IIHF rules prescribe double minor penalty, plus a game misconduct penalty for the first player to leave the bench in an altercation, other players are penalized with a game misconduct penalty). This has had the effect of all but eliminating bench-emptiers from high-level competition, though they do crop up more frequently in very low-level leagues, where fighting is accentuated somewhat.
One of the more notable incidents in recent history was a game between Canada and the Soviet Union during the 1987 World Junior Hockey Championships. The game was chippy (i.e. more rough and dangerous than is generally accepted), and late in the second period, a fight broke out, causing both teams to leave the benches. The lights were turned out, but to no avail, and the game was eventually suspended. Both teams were disqualified from the tournament, costing Canada a potential medal.
Bench-clearing brawls have also been known to occur in other sports, and officials in those sports have been cracking down on such brawls. The National Basketball Association in recent years changed the penalty for leaving the bench in a fight from $500 to a one-game suspension.
★ Fighting in ice hockey
| Contents |
| Baseball |
| Ice hockey |
| Other sports |
| See also |
Baseball
In baseball, brawls are usually the result of escalating infractions, often stemming from being hit by pitch, or an altercation between a baserunner and infielder stemming from excessive contact in an attempted tag out. They are also known to occur when a batter charges the mound. However, few bench-clearing brawls result in serious injury. In most cases, no punches are thrown, and the action is limited to pushing and shoving. Since a bench-clearing brawl by definition involves everyone on both teams, it is exceedingly rare for all participants to be ejected, even though the pitcher or batter responsible for the precipitating event is often ejected.
Unlike most other team sports, in which teams usually have an equivalent number of players on the field at any given time, in baseball the batting team is at a numerical disadvantage, with a maximum of 5 players on the field at any time, compared to the fielding team's 9 players. For this reason, leaving the dugout to join a fight is generally considered acceptable in that it results in numerical equivalence on the field, and a fairer fight.
Ice hockey
As in baseball, hockey brawls usually result from escalating infractions; in this case, dangerous hits, excessive post-whistle roughness, attacking the goaltender, and accumulated hatred from fierce competition in a game with a significant amount of condoned inter-player violence, all contribute to bench-clearing brawls. In the National Hockey League, the penalties include a 10-game suspension and a fine of $10,000 [1] for the first player to leave their bench (the international IIHF rules prescribe double minor penalty, plus a game misconduct penalty for the first player to leave the bench in an altercation, other players are penalized with a game misconduct penalty). This has had the effect of all but eliminating bench-emptiers from high-level competition, though they do crop up more frequently in very low-level leagues, where fighting is accentuated somewhat.
One of the more notable incidents in recent history was a game between Canada and the Soviet Union during the 1987 World Junior Hockey Championships. The game was chippy (i.e. more rough and dangerous than is generally accepted), and late in the second period, a fight broke out, causing both teams to leave the benches. The lights were turned out, but to no avail, and the game was eventually suspended. Both teams were disqualified from the tournament, costing Canada a potential medal.
Other sports
Bench-clearing brawls have also been known to occur in other sports, and officials in those sports have been cracking down on such brawls. The National Basketball Association in recent years changed the penalty for leaving the bench in a fight from $500 to a one-game suspension.
See also
★ Fighting in ice hockey
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