Baseball is more emotional of a sport than it gets credit for.
After all, baseball has given us some of the most epic outbursts and meltdowns that we have ever seen.
Here are the top five of all-time…
#5. George Brett: 1983
The famous “Pine Tar Game” against the Yankees.
With his Royals trailing 4-3 with two outs in the ninth inning, Brett hit a go-ahead two run home run off fellow Hall of Famer Goose Gossage.
Yankees manager Billy Martin argued that Brett had exceeded the amount of pine tar allowed.
The umpires agreed – and all hell broke loose…
#4. Tommy Lasorda: 1982 – (Warning: Explicit Language)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tom Niedenfuer was fined $500 for hitting Joe Lefebvre of the San Diego Padres.
Lefebvre’s teammate, Kurt Beveacqua, took issue with the fine and said it should be directed at the man who ordered the beaning – Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.
When asked for comment on what Beveacqua said, Lasorda let his thoughts be known in a way only he could…
#3. Hal McRae: 1993 – (Warning: Explicit Language)
Following a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers, Royals manager Hal McRae launched into one of the most epic tirades we’ve ever seen.
His casual postgame press conference started off calm – but when asked why he didn’t pinch hit George Brett for Keith Miller while down four runs in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, McRae exploded.
Nothing was safe during this meltdown.
McRae wildly threw a phone that ended up hitting a reporter in the face, causing him to bleed…
#2. Earl Weaver: 1980 – (Warning: Explicit Language)
Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver had a long-running feud with umpire Bill Haller.
The rivalry came to a head in a 1980 Orioles-Tigers game.
Three batters into the game, Haller called a balk on Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan.
That was the perfect excuse for Weaver to come storming out at Haller and giving us arguably the most entertaining manager-umpire arguments ever…
#1. Lee Elia: 1983 – (Warning: Explicit Language)
This is the undisputed number one meltdown of all-time.
The Chicago Cubs got off to a miserable start in the 1983 season and the fans at Wrigley let the players hear it.
Cubs manager, Lee Elia, was sickened by the abuse of their own fans and decided to drop an A-bomb on them.
Word to the wise – It’s NEVER a good idea to attack your own fans – especially as maliciously as Elia did.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be hilarious at the same time…