MLB: 10 Best Teammate Confrontations in History

It's that time of year again when you can walk around in public with a broken nose and black eye, and people wouldn't be puzzled.

Yes, NHL preseason has begun, and Dion Phaneuf dropping the gloves last night is indication that we'll be privileged with a myriad of fights in this year's hockey season.

And while the NFL isn't typically known for it's fighting side, the 2011 matchup between the Houston Texans and the Tennessee Titans sure is getting me excited. Could we possibly see another showdown by Texans superstar Andre Johnson and Titans Pauly D lookalike Cortland Finnegan?

Only time will tell.

I know the main focus in baseball right now is the playoffs, but as the final days of the regular season calendar go by, we cannot be surprised to see some tension in more than one clubhouse.

Whether or not a fight will occur remains to be seen, but the long, intricate history of baseball has proven that ball players surely aren't beyond bare knuckle boxing.

Here are 10 of the best teammate confrontations, that may or may not have led to fighting, that baseball has offered.

Carlos Zambrano vs. Derek Lee

No, that isn't them fighting on the diamond.

But who knows? Had it not been for the intervention of skipper Lou Piniella in the heated confrontation between Big Z and Derek Lee, this is what it may have escalated to.

We're talking about Carlos Zambrano, here. It's possible.

After surrendering four runs that Lee had no integral part in allowing, the two got in each other's face and began chirping away.

After Piniella broke up the meeting, Zambrano went on to trash some Gatorade coolers, a move that nobody saw coming.

Nobody had anything good to say in the following interviews, and Zambrano was suspended.

Seems to be the tale of the tape for Zambrano's career.

Darryl Strawberry vs Keith Hernandez

Darryl Strawberry was a Diva through and through.

Known for his controversial behavior off the field, it is easy to see why this personality wouldn't gel with the rough cut, "meat and potatoes" personality of Keith Hernandez.

This one happened in Spring Training.

In the 1989 offseason, Strawberry got in a contract dispute with the Mets, one that he expected everybody to drop what they were doing and shift 100 percent of their focus to.

When he didn't receive backup from his teammates, he came to Spring Training quite bitter, and tantrum prone.

Enough so that he threw a punch at Keith Hernandez (for playing a major role in his contract not getting settled?), and promptly left Spring Training.

When you're fighting with your teammates in Spring Training, there's no wonder a contract settlement wasn't easy.

Lou Piniella vs. Rob Dibble

I have always taken pleasure in a manager getting into it with a player.

I have also always loved the short fuse of Lou Piniella, so you can probably see why this matchup won me over.

Dibble had perhaps an equally short fuse, so it was only a matter of time before one of them blew up.

The manager vs. relief man took place in the Reds locker room, and while it didn't get to the point where hands were thrown, there's nothing wrong with a good wrestling match.

Especially not one with Sweet Lou involved.

Reggie Jackson vs. Billy North

The Oakland A's were an extremely powerful force in the early '70s, apparently both on the field, and physically.

Billy North had been using choice words when referring to Jackson, which eventually got on Mr. October's nerves.

As a solution, Jackson fought North in a scuffle that involved catcher Ray Fosse, who was injured and put on the DL for the remainder of the season.

It's all fun and games until someone incurs a season ending injury.

Carlos Zambrano vs. Michael Barrett

There's really no surprise Zambrano made this list twice.

The guy is a Loony Tune, and so exploiting his "moments of intensity", as I'll refer to them works really well for this purpose.

After re-entering the dugout after the fifth inning of a Cubs game in which Zambrano was behind, Big Z began to call out his catcher, Michael Barrett.

The two of them pushed and exchanged swipes and while no punches were thrown, it was one of the best battery battles in recent memory.

I have to give the advantage in this one to Barrett, as at least he's still currently playing baseball, and Zambrano is in the middle of a mental breakdown.

All of his confrontations seem to end the same, don't they?

Don Sutton vs. Steve Garvey

Don Sutton and Steve Garvey were locker neighbors with the Dodgers for 11 years.

When you're in such close proximity with a guy for that long of a time period, tempers are going to start to flare.

And flare they did.

When Sutton pointed out in an interview that Reggie Smith was the real MVP and referred to Garvey as an All-American Boy, Garvey was not impressed.

The locker room scrap ended after Garvey was thrown into a row of lockers, and cut in the face.

Sutton had a bruised cheek.

I guess its true what they say: "You can't be both locker neighbors AND friends"

Joe Tinker vs. Johnny Evers

Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers were two pieces of one of the greatest double play trios of all time.

Frank Chance was the third piece.

The three were so talented that a lexicon was written after them, and is now widely known as Baseball's Sad Lexicon:

Tinker to Evers to Chance. Trio of bear cubs and fleeter than birds, Tinker to Evers to Chance. Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, making a Giant hit into a doublewords that are heavy with nothing but trouble: Tinker to Evers to Chance

The wonderfully talented trio would forever change when Tinker and Evers argued over a cab fare one night, and later fought on the diamond.

Following their physical encounter, the two began not speaking to each other. A grudge that lasted 33 years.

If that's not beef, than I don't know what is.

Ty Cobb vs. Detroit Tigers

Ty Cobb is arguably the most hated athlete of all time.

Among a handful of other things, Cobb was known for the chip on his shoulder, and scrappy personality.

In 1910, two players were released from the Tigers due to confrontations with Cobb, adding to the one who was released just two years earlier in 1908.

His teammates threw wet wads of paper at him, crushed the crowns in his hats, and sawed his home made ash bats in half; and people wonder why Cobb was such a menace.

The hazing eventually got so bad, that Cobb resorted to walking around the clubhouse with a pistol, for protection.

NOTE: There is NO relationship between Ty Cobb and Gilbert Arenas

Ty Cobb played baseball in a way that no other player has likely played.

While he was playing a game known for it's high regard for teamwork, Cobb never experienced the sensation of really being on a team.

He gets to make this list, though!

Barry Bonds vs. Jeff Kent

This was a great one.

The National League MVP's in consecutive seasons, Kent vs. Bonds was as Main Card as they come in baseball.

The story is unclear with regards to exactly how this scuffle took place, but the common belief is that Bonds was sticking up for a teammate being scolded by Kent when the two went toe-to-toe.

This battle has been notoriously known as the Slugout in the Dugout, and a slugout it was.

I give the W to Bonds for giving Kent a mean shiner on his eye.

Babe Ruth vs. Lou Gehrig and Leo Durocher

The Bambino was known for his childish gallivanting around the stadium.

Within this rite he was known for his long standing feud with teammate Lou Gehrig, also a superstar.

When Gehrig's mother commented on the way Clair Ruth dressed the Ruths' daughter, Babe and Lou's slow burning beef reached it's pinnacle.

While the two stars never reportedly came to blows, they refused to congratulate each other's home runs, shake hands, or even speak.

Babe did come to blows, however, with teammate Leo Durocher.

Durocher had been well known for starting fights in the Yankees locker room. Hopefully they didn't all turn out like his tilt with the Bambino.

After allegedly stealing Babe's watch, Durocher received a good old fashioned beating from Ruth.

Can't really blame Babe for that one.

The guy stole his watch.