Brawl Fall out

Brian VanOchten had THIS about some of the injuries from the brawl between the West Michigan Whitecaps and the Lansing Lugnuts frm Thursday night:

The sixth-inning brawl between the West Michigan Whitecaps and Lansing Lugnuts at Fifth Third Ballpark has resulted in a pair of significant casualties.

Whitecaps hitting instructor Benny Distefano suffered multiple fractures to the orbital bone in the right side of his face that'll require plastic surgery and catcher Louis Ott sustained a broken right ankle, manager Tom Brookens said.

Ott was the player for the Whitecaps who was hit in retaliation for Matt Lane being hit earlier in the game. Ott charged the mound after being hit and that was when the benches cleared.

Distefano was blindsided by a forearm by Lane.

There is video HERE and HERE (click on the Base-Brawl at Fifth Third Ballpark headline)

The ABC Station in Midland (where the Lugnuts played last night) had THIS story. Not to make fun of the brawl, but this story isn't afraid to ask the question, "What about the children?" Also, this story may read a bit choppy because it was written for a television newscast. Pictures are supposed to go with it.

Friday night, Lansing was in Midland taking on the Loons in a four-game series. While the organizations say fights are rare in the minors, parents are concerned over what their kids may see.

The Loons general manager says he's seen 500 minor league games and not one fight.

Thursday night's brawl may not be a typical day at the park, especially when it's all about the family fun entertainment. Parents say they don't want their kids to see it.

"Incidents like this are very rare in minor league baseball," said general manager Paul Barbeau.
...
Lugnuts play-by-play announcer says the incident is long forgotten.

"It's done," said announcer Brad Tillery. "The GMs talked, coaches talked. It's water under the bridge."

Lansing is in Midland for the next few days. Minor league baseball prides itself on family fun entertainment.

"The success of minor league baseball is that it focuses around the family," Barbeau said.

Parents say they expect that when they come to a game.

"It brings out bad sportsmanship," said parent Kim Crowl. "This is our first game and I hope nothing like that happens."