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Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Two Legitimate Baseball Brawls in One Day

The Padres and Rockies fight was nothing compared to Yankees-Red Sox. 

Dan Gartland

Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Two Legitimate Baseball Brawls in One Day
Thursday’s Hot Clicks: Two Legitimate Baseball Brawls in One Day /

This Is as Real as Baseball Fights Get

Let's be honest, baseball players hardly ever fight for real, the way Robin Ventura and Nolan Ryan did. The Cardinals-Diamondbacks incident over the weekend made a lot of headlines, but it was really a whole lot of nothing. Well, yesterday was a different story. Wednesday's games featured not one but two​ pretty legit brawls.

One of them involved the Yankees and Red Sox, of course, who did some milling around on the field earlier in the game before things got real in the seventh. 

The Sox were upset that Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin went spikes up on a slide and wasn't punished, so Joe Kelly threw a heater into his back. Austin charged the mound and the benches emptied. 

Earlier in the day, the Rockies and Padres threw down in what was a pretty legit brawl. Look at Nolan Arenado sprint out to charge the mound! That's a man with only one thing on his mind. (I also found this hilarious about Luis Perdomo's brawl mechanics.)

The fracas in Colorado was pretty good, but to me there's nothing better than a Yankees-Red Sox fight. Frankly, it feels wrong when those teams aren't fighting.

A Crazy Night in the NBA

The NHL playoffs started last night, but (other than Sidney Crosby's hat trick) the real action was in the NBA. The Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in a winner take all season finale to end their playoff drought after 14 years. Russell Westbrook grabbed 20 rebounds to become the only player to average a triple-double in two different seasons, although my favorite thing about Westbrook's night was when he addressed the crowd in OKC to shout out Nick Collison. 

Oh, and my Knicks fired another coach.

A Knight in Golden Armor

It doesn't get any more Vegas than an unnecessarily theatrical pregame performance that leaves fans speechless. I hope they play as many home games as possible. 

Bits & Pieces

Only 96 tickets to the Maple Leafs' first playoff home game were made available to the general public. ... The Penguins are wearing helmet decals honoring the victims of the Canadian bus crash all playoffs long. ... A Connecticut man robbed a bank and led police on a highway chase as he tried to deliver the money to Taylor Swift. ... Kenny Smith thinks 32-year-old rookie Andre Ingram isn't a one-hit wonder. ... For one week every year, NFL coaches, scouts, agents and reporters turn downtown Indianapolis into one massive party.

♫ I've Got... Double Vision ♫

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In case you need a visual representation of just how long Dirk has been in the NBA. And he's coming back for another year! (via sportsbetting.ag)

The Best Mic'd Up Moments of the NHL Season

A Good Song

I'm headed out for a long weekend tomorrow so Khadrice Rollins will be making his Hot Clicks debut. I know, I know; two new guys in a week. Be nice. 

Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Click here for previous editions of Hot Clicks. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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