FIGHT!! - Need some help with a photo ID

[BradH]

I recently picked up four fairly large framed photos - all Braves related - and I'm having trouble pinning down the opponent in this photo.

The obvious player with his fist pulled back is Johnny Logan, so the timeframe would be 1951 to 1960 (his years with the Braves).

According to my research, these are the Braves players who wore #8 in this timeframe:

Ray Mueller - part of 1951 - Boston
Bob Thorpe - part of 1951 - Boston
Pete Whisenant - 1952 - Boston
Sam Calderone - 1954 - Milwaukee

The Braves player at the top of the photo who is tumbling to the ground appears to have #4. These are the Braves players who wore #4 in this timeframe:

Sid Gordon - 1951-53 - Boston
Danny O'Connell - 1954-57 - Milwaukee
Red Schoendienst - 1957-60 - Milwaukee
(I am positive that Red Schoendienst is NOT the player who is falling down).

My best guess on this is that it is from 1954. I think that's O'Connell who is falling and Calderone (#8) who is holding an opposing player back. Logan was a shortstop and O'Connell was his second base teammate for several years.

The tough part is telling who the other team is. My first guess is the Cardinals, as the player at the top almost seems to have an "STL" on his cap, but it's just too tough to tell for sure. It could also be a "B" for Brooklyn(?). The Braves appear to be the road team. I know they had a pair of brawls in Cincinnati in September 1954, but I don't think the opponents' caps seem to have a "C" on them.

Just wondering if anyone has seen this pic before and if you're familiar with this incident?

Thanks,
Brad

[BradH]

Sure enough, not even 5 minutes after I posted this, a co-worker walked into my office and looked at the photo and casually said, "Hey - is that Pee Wee Reese in a fight?" I think he's right - the guy at the top is Pee Wee.

What had stumped me about this maybe being the Dodgers squad was that no player wore #24 on the '54 club. Then I realized that #24 is a pretty big guy and looks older, like a coach - or manager Walter Alston to be exact (who was 6-foot-2).

Now it all fits. Anyway, I'm going to re-frame it and hang it in my office.

[effe]

http://theruckerarchive.com/what-triggered-this-wild-baseball-scene/

[whitehse]

This was posted on a Facebook page that is dedicated to old baseball photos and the "8" was said to be coach Connie Ryan. The same page surmised that Eddie Matthews was the guy falling down.

I will see if I can get a link to that page.

Some of this may be redundant as the Rucker Archive was also mentioned but here is the Blurb from the Facebook page I mentioned:

"Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, June 13, 1957 - After the Braves Bill Bruton hits his second home run of the game off Don Drysdale in the top of the second inning to give his team a 4-0 lead, Drysdale, most definitely out of frustration and anger, hits the next Braves batter Johnny Logan and starts an all-out brawl. In this photo we got Logan wearing #23 with his fist cocked aimed at Dodger's manager Walter Alston(#24). On the right side we see Drysdale being restrained by Braves coach Connie Ryan(#8). On the top of the photo is Pee Wee Reese trying to get a hold of the Braves great Eddie Mathews who himself is on top of a Dodger player. After the dust was cleared and tempers subsided both Logan and Drysdale were given the boot from the game and afterwards the league office, clearly embarrassed by the brawl, hit Logan with a $100 fine and Drysdale had to fork up $400. The Braves did end up winning the game 8-5 before a smallish Ebbets Field crowd of 8,778.

Photo Source and Info - The Rucker Archive http://theruckerarchive.com/
Other Info Source - Baseball-Reference.com; Patrick McAtee"


Here is the Facebook link to the page of this group.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Time-Baseball-Photos/308921932607061?fref=nf

[BradH]

Thanks for the info, guys. I hadn't considered that the #4 guy was actually #41 (Mathews). Eddie was pretty known for mixing it up, so it's no shock that he was involved!

[YankeeFan]

Here's another photo of the fight, followed by a sequence of photos showing the fight develop. These were from the NY Daily News.

This one clearly shows #41 Ed Mathews taking aim at Drysdale's chin. That's Gil Hodges racing in from first base with a Braves player on his back.

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14bFront_zps60a5e6fe.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14bFront_zps60a5e6fe.jpg.html) http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14bBack_zps63889e8b.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14bBack_zps63889e8b.jpg.html)


Here's the fight sequence. These are 5 x 7's. Sorry they're a bit blurry, but it was the best I could do.
The photo in bottom right shows Hank Aaron holding the bat.

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af98/jtorsiello/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14aFront_zps7e4e183e.jpg (http://s997.photobucket.com/user/jtorsiello/media/Daily_News_Photos/NP1957-06-14aFront_zps7e4e183e.jpg.html)