Baseball’s diamond often becomes a battleground of strategy and athleticism. Yet sometimes, competitive spirit crosses into unsportsmanlike conduct. The line blurs. Debates erupt over unwritten rules versus outright foul play. Some actions have triggered bench-clearing brawls and suspensions.
Ready for nine moments that made fans spill their overpriced stadium beers in disbelief?
2017: Strickland’s Revenge Pitch on Harper
Hunter Strickland stored his grudge against Bryce Harper in a pressure cooker for nearly three years. In May 2017, that lid finally blew off when the Giants reliever drilled Harper with a 98 mph fastball—payback for two homers Harper hit off him in the 2014 playoffs.
Harper charged the mound with the speed of a runaway freight train. A wild brawl followed. Giants first baseman Michael Morse collided with teammate Jeff Samardzija during the chaos, suffering a career-ending concussion. MLB handed down the verdicts: Strickland six games, Harper four. Revenge served at 98 mph came with a steep price tag.
2007: A-Rod’s Deceptive Baserunning Tactic
Alex Rodriguez pulled a classic misdirection play straight from a heist movie’s playbook during a May 2007 game against Toronto. While passing behind third baseman Howie Clark on a routine pop-up, A-Rod shouted “Ha! I got it!”
Clark stepped aside, thinking his shortstop had called for the ball. It dropped. A run scored. The Yankees won 10-5. Blue Jays players fumed at the mental tactic—technically legal but hovering in that gray area where baseball’s unwritten rulebook lives. This moment perfectly captured A-Rod’s career: undeniably talented, occasionally brilliant, and always controversial.
2018: Machado’s First Base Collision
Manny Machado stepped on Jesús Aguilar’s foot at first base during Game 4 of the 2018 NLCS—as deliberate as someone cutting in line at the front of a four-hour wait. The seemingly intentional clip while jogging through first base infuriated the Brewers.
After the game, Christian Yelich didn’t mince words: “It’s a dirty play by a dirty player.” MLB fined Machado but skipped the suspension. The Dodgers eventually won the series in seven games, with this moment adding another notch to Machado’s belt of controversial plays (and not the stylish kind).
2013: Dempster Targets Rodriguez Amid PED Scandal
Ryan Dempster decided to become baseball’s unofficial judge and jury in August 2013. With Rodriguez freshly connected to the Biogenesis PED scandal, the Red Sox pitcher threw three inside pitches before finally plunking A-Rod with the fourth attempt.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi erupted from the dugout—a volcano unleashing years of pent-up magma. His ejection came quickly. MLB suspended Dempster for five games with an undisclosed fine. Three years later, Dempster confirmed what everyone already knew—the pitch was intentional, inspired by conversations with his brothers about Rodriguez’s alleged PED use. Baseball’s unwritten code of justice has always been complicated.
2015: Tabata Breaks Up Scherzer’s Perfect Game
Two outs. Ninth inning. One strike away. Max Scherzer stood on the mountaintop of baseball achievement in June 2015. Pirates pinch-hitter José Tabata represented the final obstacle between Scherzer and perfection.
Then Tabata leaned his elbow into an inside breaking pitch—the equivalent of someone ripping the final page from a mystery novel just before you solve the case. The umpire awarded him first base. Perfect game vanished. Scherzer composed himself for a no-hitter, but baseball’s rarest achievement had slipped away. The debate continues: strategic competitive move or violation of an unspoken baseball code?
2003: Mota-Piazza Feud Erupts
The Mota-Piazza feud played out as a multi-season TV drama where tensions build slowly before the explosive finale. Their beef began in spring 2002 when Mota hit Piazza with a pitch, sparking a clubhouse chase scene worthy of security camera footage.
The storyline climaxed in March 2003. Mota deliberately threw at Piazza again. The Mets’ star catcher charged the mound, but Mota retreated faster than a cat from a water spray. A massive brawl erupted between the teams. MLB suspended both players—Piazza for five games, Mota for seven—proving that baseball grudges rarely resolve themselves peacefully.
2015: Utley’s Slide Transforms Baserunning Rules
Chase Utley’s slide in the 2015 NLDS didn’t just break Rubén Tejada’s leg—it broke baseball’s entire approach to baserunning safety. During Game 2 between the Dodgers and Mets, Utley’s late, hard slide fractured the shortstop’s right fibula and changed the rulebook forever.
This play became the gaming “patch update” baseball needed. The new “Utley Rule” required baserunners to make a “bona fide slide,” maintain the ability to reach the base, and not change their path specifically to initiate contact. Sometimes it takes a catastrophe to fix a longstanding problem. Unfortunately for Tejada, his broken leg became the catalyst for important change.
1996: Belle’s Controversial Takeout Slide
Albert Belle—baseball’s resident bad boy of the 1990s—added another highlight to his controversy reel in May 1996. Already feared for his intensity (and occasional outbursts), Belle executed a vicious slide into Brewers second baseman Fernando Viña during a double play attempt.
The collision flattened Viña completely. Surprisingly, no brawl followed—until you learn this wasn’t Belle’s first aggressive slide against the Brewers that season. MLB responded with a $25,000 fine, substantial money back when players weren’t making “small country GDP” salaries. This incident showcased the physical play once common before safety rules took priority.
2004: A-Rod’s ALCS Glove Slap
The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox rivalry produced a moment so bizarre it belonged in the theater of the absurd. Game 6, ALCS, Boston leading 4-2 in the eighth. Alex Rodriguez hit a slow roller between home and first base.
As pitcher Bronson Arroyo moved to tag him, A-Rod delivered a karate chop to Arroyo’s glove that would make martial arts instructors wince. The ball came loose. Initially ruled safe as Derek Jeter scored, umpires huddled and correctly called Rodriguez out for interference. Yankee Stadium erupted—not in applause, but with flying debris that caused a 12-minute delay. Even this couldn’t stop Boston’s historic comeback from a 3-0 series deficit.
1991: Hrbek’s Controversial Tag at First Base
Game 2 of the 1991 World Series featured a moment that continues to haunt Braves fans’ collective memory. With Atlanta leading 2-1 in the third inning, Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek appeared to lift Ron Gant off first base while applying a tag.
Despite heated protests from Gant and manager Bobby Cox, umpire Drew Coble ruled Gant out. The Twins won 3-2 and eventually claimed the championship in seven games. The play proved so infamous that the Twins later erected a statue of Hrbek outside Target Field showing this very moment—the baseball equivalent of trolling an entire fanbase. This controversy showed how critical disputed calls could be decades before replay review existed.
