July 22, 1986, in Cincinnati turned into the kind of baseball chaos that lives on for decades. Things got heated early when Darryl Strawberry took issue with some strike calls, argued from the dugout, and wound up ejected after drawing an imaginary strike zone in the dirt. He blew up from the bench, shouting he’d rather be punching someone else’s head than his own arm next time. The Mets trailed late, but with one out to go, a routine grounder to Gold Glover Dave Parker was bobbled, letting New York tie the game. Reliever John Franco was furious, and it only snowballed from there.
Pete Rose, then player-manager at age 45, decided to pinch hit for himself. He singled up the middle, casually handed off first base duties, and went back to the dugout satisfied. Eric Davis came in to pinch run, stole second, then third, and things totally unraveled. After Davis slid safely into third, he and Ray Knight started jawing over the bag. Knight threw a clean punch to the face. The ump, trying to break things up, inadvertently pushed Davis into Gary Carter, who body-slammed him to the dirt like it was pro wrestling. Fans reacted by tossing debris, and umpires started ejecting players. Knight and Davis were tossed. Carter stayed in and even shifted to third.
What followed was pure position-switching mayhem. The Mets rotated Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell between the mound and outfield based on matchups. It looked improvised, but it worked. The Mets closed it out and walked away with a wild win. It was one of the most chaotic and bizarre regular-season games of that era, packed with ejections, absurd substitutions, and a full-on brawl right at third base.