In 2010, the Reds and Cardinals were battling for the division and tensions boiled over fast. Brandon Phillips lit the fuse by calling the Cardinals a bunch of complainers and saying he hated them. The next day, he stepped up to the plate and tapped Yadier Molina’s shin guards, a normal greeting, but Molina wasn’t having it. He cursed back, told Phillips not to touch him, and shoved things into chaos from there.
The benches cleared quickly. Scott Rolen, who used to play for St. Louis and was now with the Reds, tried to calm things down, but there was too much yelling to stop. Managers Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa chirped at each other from across the pile. Then things got out of hand when Johnny Cueto got pinned against the backstop and started kicking to get free. In the process, he caught Chris Carpenter in the back and one of the Cardinals’ backup catchers in the face. Cueto’s cleats turned the scuffle into an injury risk, not a dust-up. The fight cooled off eventually, but both sides walked away angry. Scott Rolen just looked exhausted by the end of it.