Chicago Cubs: Top five memorable bench-clearing incidents

Chicago Cubs: There is no moment in Cubs-White Sox history more memorable than the infamous brawl in 2006.

2006 was heaven for White Sox fans and hell for Cubs fans. The Sox were coming off their 2005 World Series win, and the Cubs were heading for a 96-loss season as the Dusty Baker era was coming to an ugly end. Things got particularly unpleasant on May 20, 2006, when the two Chicago teams faced off on the South Side.

In the bottom of the second inning, Rich Hill walked the bases loaded for Brian Anderson. On a 1-1 count, Anderson lifted a flyball to Matt Murton in left who made the catch and fired home quickly as A.J. Pierzynski tagged from third and headed home. Pierzynski rammed into Cubs catcher Michael Barrett, knocking him down before slamming his hand on home to officially score.

Barrett went to Pierzynski, grabbed hold of him, and punched him square in the face. The benches cleared, and what followed was a mass collection of punches, shoving and dog-pilling on home plate. Scott Podsednik went after Barrett as the two teams continued to scrap. Eventually, it was broken up, and the crowd on the South Side roared as Pierzynski pumped up the crowd as we went back to the dugout. Both catchers, among others, would be ejected from the game.

This season was awful, and the only real memorable thing from it was a brawl in a game the Cubs eventually lost 7-0.

Have any other notable bench-clearing incidents in mind? Please do share them. These five are certainly not the only ones to happen in Cubs’ history.