Silver anniversary of the Corrales-Stewart karate fight

Twenty-five years ago today, baseball witnessed one of its stranger and most unlikely on-field fights. It was an odd one because (1) it pitted a manager against a player, and (2) it involved martial arts. Either one would make it a memorable fight, but combined—okay, this is worth looking into. It came in a game between the A’s and Indians on July 1, 1986. The visiting Indians were cruising to an easy victory when Tony Bernazard homered to lead off of the seventh inning, making the score 7-0 Indians. Relief pitcher Dave Stewart, acquired by Oakland barely a month earlier and in only his 10th appearance for the team, responded by throwing a purpose pitch to the next batter, 27-year-old shortstop Julio Franco. This made Indians manager Pat Corrales mad. He stormed out of the dugout and demanded the umpire eject Stewart for trying to hit Franco. The umpire gave both dugouts a warning, but that wasn’t enough for Corrales. He started screaming at 29-year-old Stewart, w...