The All Time Best Baseball Players In a BRAWL team

[JimStinson]

Kinda fun stuff , wrote a piece about this awhile back , I wonder if the names have changed ....I got alot of feedback from ex ball players who got a kick out of picking the team. Might be fun to build a collection around it. These are the guys you'd want on your team if a bench clearing Brawl broke out. (smile). here are the names I got
1st base) GIL HODGES (I said Hodges was good natured and never got in a fight, was told the other players were "scared" of him knew he was unusually strong had hands like a catchers mit , and was told picking a fight with Hodges would be like picking a fight with a WALL)
2nd Base) BILLY MARTIN (nuff said)
Shortstop) JOHNNY LOGAN (I spoke to Logan on the phone once and he scared the heck out of me and he was over 60 years old)
3rd Base) EDDIE MATHEWS not only did he kick the crap out of Frank Robinson and Don Drysdale he had martial arts training and was afraid of nothing.
Catcher) STAN LOPATA met him once and shook his hand and wondered why he needed a catchers mitt.
Pitchers) EARLY WYNN & DON DRYSDALE & JUAN MARICHAL Big and mean masters of the brush back pitch and pitchers always START the fights they are never in them. and these two started plenty
Outfield) DEL ENNIS, MOOSE MORYN & PETE WHISENANT (Pete was a personal friend and in Port Charlotte Florida they still talk about the day in the 1950's that 6 roughnecks picked a fight with him and Pete knocked out all six and left without a scratch)
Manager) Ty Cobb

[RichardSimon]

Maybe Furillo in the outfield.

[JimStinson]

Good point, Bill Zekus who used to hang out at Ebbets said all of the Dodgers were great signers in the 1950's except for Billy Loes who Zekus called a "flake" and Carl Furillo who Zekus said was a nasty non-signer (at least back then)

[Tedw9]

Reading this post reminded me of a story I was told some years back.

I was very close friends with one of Eddie Mathews teammates, pitcher Carlton Willey. I spent countless hours at his house just listening to stories about all the greats he played with and against. Those hours were some of the best of my life.

He told me the story of his first start, against the Giants. Eddie comes up to him before the game and tells him if he has to throw inside, go ahead and do it because "before anyone gets to you, they'll have to go through me."

Carlton said he never had a worry about brushing someone back.

[old13man]

What about Nolan Ryan at pitcher....he tore up Robin Ventura in that infamous fight. He was also up there in age at the time.

[JimStinson]

The Nolan Ryan thing ...was called nuggies on the head. Which you do with your knuckle in jest for the sake of irritating someone is not the same as a brawl.

[milkit1]

this one is simple - the 1895 Baltimore Orioles

[Deertick]

Dave Hollins backing up Matthews. You can't defend against crazy.
Jonny Gomes as 4th outfielder.

[JimStinson]

Great Eddie Mathews story !, Pete told me one that was amazing. They both played together in the minors and one night they were both drunk and went to a brothel in the middle of the night (probably just wanted a glass of water) and the owner swung open the door with a loaded shotgun aimed at their heads and Pete said Mathews walked right up to the guy , grabbed the screen door and slammed it in his face and told him something I can;t repeat and stalked off. That was pre-major leagues imagine how cocky he got after coming up to "The Show"