In September 2003, during a tight division race, the Cardinals and Cubs faced off at Wrigley Field in a game full of tension. The Cardinals had a two-game edge in the standings and led this one by two runs early. In the second inning, Cardinals pitcher Dan Haren tried to lay down a bunt with a 1-1 count but couldn’t get it done. With two strikes, he stayed in bunt mode. The Cubs pitcher then hit him with the next pitch, which set off a chain reaction. While it likely wasn’t on purpose, the Cardinals had seen enough. Kerry Wood and other Cubs pitchers had a reputation for hitting batters, and Haren was trying to give them an easy out.
Not long after, Haren responded by hitting the opposing pitcher. That’s when everything boiled over. Both benches were warned, and the managers went at it. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa supported the retaliation, saying the Cubs had it coming. Dusty Baker was furious, arguing that the pitch to Haren wasn’t intentional and that the umpires shouldn’t have issued both sides a warning. He got heated with La Russa, yelling from the dugout, calling him and his players punks and worse. The two managers stared each other down as the shouting match grew. Neither was backing down. Play resumed, but the jawing didn’t stop. Dusty kept yelling, clearly still fired up well after the dust-up. A kid watching it all from the front row looked confused about how a baseball game turned into a shouting match between grown men.