Chicago Cubs: What if Kris Bryant and Yadier Molina got in a brawl?

Chicago Cubs Kris Bryant took a lot of heat recently from the St. Louis Cardinals Yadier Molina, but who would come out on top if the two started to tango on the field?

You can’t get this on HBO or late night fights. You won’t even be able to catch it on MLB TV; well, unless it really happens. You can only catch all the action here as the Major League Brawl series inaugural bout will get things started. MLB Brawls will look at old fights, new fights and possible fights among baseball’s most elite and best MLB players, coaches and staff.

Let’s get ready for ejection!

Our inaugural bout begins with Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant possibly brawling with St. Louis Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina. Before we get to the action, let me explain why I chose to focus on this topic.

I don’t condone fighting with the intent of maiming or seriously injuring another person unless you’re a soldier.  Speaking of soldiers, our country has a rich history of fighting. I guess you can say, fighting is as American as apple pie. I can remember when I was about eight years old, and we were playing basketball at my best friend, Bob’s house. Our ball got loose and ended up in the neighbor’s yard, and the kid, Jeff who lived there wouldn’t give it back. Jeff’s old man Tony came out and asked, what was the problem? He told Jeff to give us our ball back, but the name-calling continued.

“Why don’t you guys put on the gloves and settle it,” offered Tony.

I had never been in a fight before, but I agreed to take on Jeff with only a 7-year-old Saturday morning cartoon knowledge of how to fight. This was a momentous occasion for the neighborhood, as the first Bensley Street Brawl was about to take place on that usually quiet Chicago suburban block. Parents came out on their front porches to watch.  All the kids of the neighborhood gathered around on Jeff’s front lawn.

This was America.  I think both Jeff and I knocked each other pretty good that day on Bensley Street.  After all these years, my memory isn’t the best, but I think the neighborhood gang would agree today, that I won that bout.

Sorry, Jeff.

Later in life, at Mount Carmel high school in Chicago, famous for their Father/Son Boxing Night “Smokers”, I signed up for intramural boxing and ended up having to box Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Chris Chelios’ cousin, Steve Chelios (also a hockey player and remarkably similar in appearance just a little shorter) during a lunchtime qualification.

The bouts were two minutes and three rounds long as I recall. Some bouts ended very early when mismatched opponents took a pounding. I was lucky to escape with my face looking like a raw hamburger as Chelios treated me like a Detroit Red Wing who just tried to stick him high! Mark Antonietti and classmate Brian Schiller managed my corner; they told me to keep my arm straight with my glove in his face at all times as I was bigger and had a longer reach then Chelios. It was great advice that was poorly executed as I lost badly, taking a pummeling from him.

Throughout the bout, as Chelios would knock me down (and it was several times), I always got back up, and I went all three rounds. Chelios won the bout unanimously though, and for my effort, I could barely see out of my swollen eyes. I had lost, but I had won. There was newfound respect among my peers. Man had taken on man and survived.

Whether it’s hockey, football, basketball or baseball; fighting is part of the game. Mainly because the game is life, under a microscope and fighting is part of life.  So enjoy the first matchup of Major League Brawl I between the Cardinals Molina and the Chicago Cubs, Bryant.