To paraphrase Elton John, Sunday night was alright for fighting.

That was the case in Venezuela, where the winter baseball season is currently in full-swing. Sunday's slate of games featured a match-up between two of the league's best teams, the Leones del Caracas and the Tiburones de La Guaira. Entering play on Wednesday, the Tiburones had a record of 7-5, and were just 1.5 games behind the Leones for first place in the league.

With those records in mind, one would expect a game between the two teams to have a lot of fireworks. The game between these teams on Sunday had exactly that, but for a much different reason than anticipated.

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Ex-New York Baseball Players Involved in Massive Brawl in Venezuela

A video began to circulate in the "baseball Twitter" world, showing a massive brawl happening in a Venezuelan Winter League game. The video was captured by journalist Emilio Materán, but was spread around by the aptly-named account, Baseball Fight Club.

Here's what the brawl looked like from Mr. Materán's perspective:


Though the game was being played in Venezuela, both teams had players who have ties to New York. The names that fans might remember include:

  • Ronald Herrera (Caracas): pitched two games with the Yankees in 2017
  • Wilfredo Tovar (Caracas): Mets prospect who played 15 games with New York over three separate stints
  • Yolmer Sanchez (La Guaira): played in three games for the Mets this season, also played 14 games for Boston
New York Mets v Cincinnati Reds
Wildredo Tovar with the Mets in 2013 / Getty Images
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Also included in this spat was Jose Mujica, a 26-year old right-handed pitcher. Mujica has not appeared at the Major League level with either New York team, but spent the 2022 campaign in the Yankees' organization, splitting time between AA Somerset and AAA Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Unfortunately, we're still not sure what started the fracas, nor do we know how it ended. All we know, is that something happened that angered at least one player or coach in the game, and it descended into anarchy from there.

New York Yankees v Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Ronald Herrera with the Yankees in 2017 / Getty Images
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The New York Post published an article on the fight, and noted a few interesting observations from the visual masterpiece that is the fight video:

  • One player is being held back.
  • He breaks away and sprints over to both teams on the mound.
  • The fight moves over to the dugout, causing fans to scream.
  • The player then gets punched and knocked to the ground.
  • Multiple fights break out around the diamond, with coaches trying to control the scene.
  • A fan threw a drink on the field in the direction of the players.

Honestly, you couldn't ask for much more from a fight in a sporting event. Punches, players being held back, drinks being thrown; its a masterpiece, and a few former New York players were lucky enough to be involved in its creation.

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