Thread: Rene Tosoni ignites WBC brawl? REALLY?!?

Sorry, I didn't see it, so I'll need to hear the details from those who did. I gotta guess that this isn't what Selig had in mind (though it might be the best possible thing for the popularity of the WBC):

Multiple fights erupted after Canada's Rene Tosoni was hit in the back by a pitch from Arnold Leon with the score 9-3 at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It quickly turned into a wild scene, as chaotic as any on a major league field in recent years.


Even when the fisticuffs ended, Canadian pitching coach Denis Boucher was hit in the face by a full water bottle thrown from the crowd. Canada shortstop Cale Iorg angrily threw the bottle back into the crowd.

Holy cow! Are we at the Met? Is this 1974?

Canada-Mexico brawl breaks out in WBC game - ESPN

Yeah, It was Rene Tosoni that "ignited" this brawl

Justin Morneau was in the middle of that mess. No worries right.???

Originally Posted by righty8383

Yeah, It was Rene Tosoni that "ignited" this brawl

I saw the highlight on the MLB channel and Tosoni did start walking towards the pitcher with an angry gleam in his eye, but the punching did not start until after the benches emptied. It's difficult to fault Tosoni, because it was obvious that the pitcher was trying to drill him.

Tosoni had absolutely no fault in this brawl. He just happened to be the guy up to bat when 3B Luis Cruz (4 seasons of big league time) told RHP Arturo Leon to hit Tosoni in the ribs (there is video showing this is as well). 8 players were ejected. Tosoni was one of them just because he was the hitter... Twins farm hand Andrew Albers (who gave up two runs in 3 innings in the game) was also ejected. It was an impressive brawl.

Rene Tosoni, freedom fighter.

World Baseball Classic: Most Recent | CAN@MEX: Cruz gestures after Robinson's bunt - Video

The above link shows Luis Cruz, upset because the batter before Tosoni (Chris Robinson) bunted in the 9th inning with a 9-3 lead, telling the pitcher to hit Tosoni in the ribs. Pretty clear. As the Mexico manager said, he must not have done a good job of telling his team the rules of the tournament which has run differential as a tie-breaker, so the bunt was not out of line.

The run differential rule has to go, it by default breaks one of the unwritten codes of the game and obviously the players hold that closer to them then being embarrassed, tiebreak or no tiebreak.

Trust Canada to start a hockey brawl at an international event. At least they couldn't turn the lights out at this one.

Canada vs U.S.S.R 1987 Bench clearing brawl - YouTube

It is hard to fault Tosoni. He was thrown at 3 times. The pitcher and both benches were warned after the 2nd inside pitch. Leon went ahead and drilled Tosoni anyway. I think maybe the manager for Mexico should of went out after the first 2 inside pitches and explained things to his team. That of course, is easy to say in hindsight. The brawl itself was pretty ugly. It is lucky nobody was injured. At least I think nobody was seriously injured.

Methinks it was Luis Cruz and the idiot Mexican manager and the bigger idiot pitcher who started this thing and not Tosoni (but with Tosoni's new status as a cheesehead, I don't feel sorry for him.)

Just keep Morneau away from it.

I was there in Phoenix for the game but my eyewitness account doesn't add anything. You peel the onion back layer by layer, and there is only more onion underneath:

• Tosoni takes a step toward the mound, after...
• being thrown at on three consecutive pitches, after...
• catcher Robinson bunts for a base hit, after...
• Robinson was bowled over on a no-slide play at the plate, after...
• various hard slides by the Canada team, after...
• who knows what

The play at the plate where Robinson got knocked over was several innings earlier, and I don't remember any egregious slides at second or elsewhere but they were mentioned in one recounting of the tale. So it wasn't a completely linear chain of events, just a general sense of things being a little rough for a friendly game.

Players being unclear on the tie-breaker played a significant role. But if Team Canada was looking to maximize their run-scoring in the top of the ninth, having a catcher bunt leadoff isn't the obvious strategy I would try, so I think there still is a gray area.

I would love to buy one of the participants a few drinks and get more of the real back-story, but I suspect these details will remain with the players themselves. By the time interviews occurred, the players were well-rehearsed. "I lost it... I lost it... I lost it." Hope he finds it.

The Canadian's dropped a bunt for a base hit, the 3B was left holding his jock, and then, after fielding the ball, the 3B looked at the pitcher, pointed at his ribs, then pointed at Tosoni.

Tosoni was thrown at three times, finally got hit and he still was just yapping at the pitcher as the catcher kind of started walking him down to 1B. Then the catcher shoved him and it was on!