July 24, 2004
Personally, this is one of my favorite Sox-Yankees moments. This was a regular season match-up at Fenway Park between the two teams.
The incident all started with Red Sox pitcher, Bronson Arroyo hitting Alex Rodriguez in the elbow. Not appreciating the pitch, A-Rod started yelling at Arroyo when he was walking down the line. Catcher Jason Varitek then stepped in, getting into A-Rod’s face and they began exchanging heated words. Varitek then stuffed his glove in A-Rod’s face and picked him up. The benches cleared and an all out brawl begun.
The most memorable moment of this fight was when Yankees pitcher, Tanyon Sturtze, came up from behind and got Red Sox outfielder, Gabe Kapler in a choke hold. With the assistance from his teammate, Trot Nixon, Kapler got Sturtze on the ground and just pounded him.
This all resulted in both A-Rod and Varitek getting suspended 4 games and fined $2,000. Kapler, Nixon, and Sturtze all got suspended 3 games and fined $1,000.