Revisiting the Time Armando Benitez Plunked Tino Martinez and Started a Massive Yankees-Orioles Brawl

Fans often forget, but in the late 1990's the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles had a heated AL East rivalry. Nowadays, the Yankees consistently obliterate the O's, but the Orioles were competitive during the 90's, even matching up with the Yankees in the 1996 ALCS.

On May 19, 1998, though, the rivalry hit its breaking point. Orioles pitcher Armando Benitez had come out of the bullpen to give up a home run to the always dependable Bernie Williams. Then, on the next pitch, he drilled Tino Martinez between the numbers. Benitez was immediately ejected and the benches cleared. Chaos ensued.

As always, Jomboy had a great breakdown of it as well:

The players spilled onto the field, but no punches were thrown. We even get to see a young, innocent-looking Derek Jeter try and restrain a 38-year-old Darryl Strawberry. It was all verbal until Jeff Nelson and Graeme Lloyd sprinted from the bullpen to rip Benitez's head off. One of the most vicious brawls in recent memory then went down, with Strawberry and Benitez getting very violent.

Benitez was suspended for eight games, Strawberry and Lloyd for three, and Alan Mills for two. Martinez didn't play in the Yankees' next series in Boston due to a bone bruise suffered from the Benitez pitch.

To this day, the brawl remains one of the most brutal baseball has ever seen. It went from the mound, to the grass down the third base line, into the Orioles' dugout. The days of the 1990's Yankees' dynasty were fun to watch, and the intensity of games like these made the wins that much sweeter for the Bronx Bombers.