Baseball Blogging - Clear the Benches

Baseball dustups have always been notorious for appearing worse than they actually are. Over the years I've seen Giants and Dodgers players rushing the mound, clearing the benches, bumping chests and throwing wild punches and rarely have I seen even a drop of blood.

But when Oakland fans get involved things change, as yesterday's A's v. Ranger's game showed when Ranger's pitcher Frank Francisco decided he couldn't take the Oakland fan's taunting anymore, and threw a chair into the crowd.

The object hit a fan (not sure if it was the intended target or not) and bounced off of him to hit a woman across the head and break her nose.

Also on the subject of America's pastime, King Kaufman at Salon (subscription or daypass required) has a fine series going on why Barry Bonds is the more than obvious choice for this year's NL MVP.