Canada, Mexico have some fighting history

PHOENIX -- Believe it or not, they've brawled before.

Not these Canada and Mexico players, the ones who fought at the World Baseball Classic on Saturday. But 22 years ago, in a Pan American Games tournament played in Cuba, the baseball teams of Canada and Mexico had a brawl so severe that the game was suspended and a coach from each team ended up in the hospital.

According to a wire-service story at the time, the Mexicans blamed the Canadians for starting the incident, claiming that Canadian catcher Alex Andreopoulos had called Mexican catcher Alberto Vargas "a third-world chili-eater, a tortilla-eater."

Andreopoulos is now the Blue Jays' bullpen catcher.

Canadian officials denied that Andreopoulos used the term.

According to the report, the brawl got so bad that Cuban police officers came onto the field to break it up. The Canadian coach told reporters that three of his players were hit by a bat.