Australian Baseball Teams Get into Bench-Clearing Brawl

A heavy collision at home plate turned a recent game of Australian baseball into Sucker Punch City, according to Jake O’Donnell of Sports Grid. 

The game in question was a matchup between the Brisbane Bandits and the Sydney Blue Sox, with hostilities starting shortly after a hard charge at the dish.

Native Texan and Tampa Bay Rays prospect Patrick Leonard crashed into Pittsburgh Pirates minor league catcher Daniel Arribas on a close play at home. 

What followed was a completely unnecessary throwdown on the field. Arribas and Leonard squared off at the plate, but even as the teams took the field, it appeared the situation had moved past the point of a total meltdown. 

This was not so. 

All it takes is one match to light a fire, and the catalyst in this case was Joshua Roberts—an outfielder for the Bandits and a former rugby player. Of course.

Roberts stormed the field and sucker punched Arribas full in the face. The haymaker sent the teams into a frenzy, and for the next half-minute, the scene turned into a Down Under version of Road House. 

GIF via GifSoup

If you look closely, Roberts appears to be the first one to begin running toward the field. All he saw was the hit at the plate, and that appeared to be all he needed to to see before heading out to throw fists.

Fittingly enough, Roberts has since been punished with the most severe suspension in Australian Baseball League history—he will sit out six games.

It’s an interesting notion to consider that Australia deals out its harshest penalties for players assaulting others, while the MLB whips out 100-game suspensions for steroid usage. 

Chalk it up to culture differences, I guess. 

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