Fielder, Parra involved in dugout altercation in game with Reds
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Almost a year to the day after an ugly dugout confrontation was captured by the television cameras at Miller Park, the Battlin' Brewers were at it again Monday night at Great American Ball Park.
With Milwaukee en route to a 6-3 loss to Cincinnati, starting pitcher Manny Parra and first baseman Prince Fielder engaged in a dispute in the visiting dugout during the top of the seventh inning that resulted in Fielder physically attacking Parra. The irate Fielder had to be pulled off the stunned pitcher by several teammates and wrestled to the floor.
Afterward, as expected, the combatants refused to discuss the details of the incident. Parra danced around the subject, saying "it's already been taken care of," and Fielder sent word through a club spokesman that he wouldn't talk about it.
It was Aug. 2 of last season when manager Ned Yost became involved in a dugout dispute with catcher Johnny Estrada and infielder Tony Graffanino, neither of whom is with the team this year. Yost at the time downplayed the incident and said it was nobody's business, a refrain he repeated this time around.
"It's not a big deal," Yost said. "For eight months a year, we're a family. At times things happen, flare up, but it's between the family. It's in the family.
"It's a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for you to go knock on the door and ask what happened. We handle it ourselves. It's between us and it's nobody's business. But it wasn't that big a deal."
Cameras caught Fielder and Parra engaged in a discussion near the tunnel that leads from the clubhouse to the dugout. Fielder was talking to Parra and gesturing with his right arm to the field.
Parra, who surrendered six runs in six innings, had just been lifted from the game for a pinch hitter. Someone who overheard parts of the conversation said Parra apparently was headed back to the clubhouse and an agitated Fielder told him he should remain in the dugout to watch the Brewers bat that inning.
Parra angrily snatched up his cap and jacket from the bench and was walking toward the other end, side-by-side with Fielder, when the 270-pound first baseman suddenly turned and forcefully pushed Parra onto the bench. Fielder then lunged at Parra again and shoved him hard with both arms.
At that point, several players, including Bill Hall, Ray Durham, Dave Bush and Ryan Braun, with pitching coach Mike Maddux also intervening, jumped in, grabbed Fielder and pushed him to the dugout floor.
Though the sight of Fielder physically attacking the unsuspecting Parra was shocking, Braun said it was not considered a major incident by the players.
"You spend a lot of time with people, on and off the field, you're going to have arguments, get in fights," Braun said. "Sometimes you need that emotion and passion to break up the monotony. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
"It could be a bad thing if half the guys side with one person and half the guys side with the other. But I think everybody looks at it as a minor incident. It's unfortunate that it happened in front of the cameras because I'm sure the media will make it into more than what it was. Things like that happen over the course of the season.
