Last Updated: June 17th, 2026 by Michael Schatz
As we all know, the dog days of summer are when things start to get interesting. The season is coming to a close, guys are tired, and some are playing through nagging injuries. Hanging over it all is the pressure of a pennant race. Every pitch, every at-bat, it all matters that much more. This is what teams are playing for. And sometimes, that pressure can build and build and build, and when it has nowhere else to go – it bursts.
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Let’s take you back to August 1984. The NL West-leading Padres were in Atlanta to face the second-place Braves. You’d think an August series between a first and second-place team would be filled with tension and drama. Except the Padres were enjoying a 10 1/2 game lead with 46 games to go after taking the first two games of this series. This was a beatdown more than a pennant race. So it’s no secret why the Braves were agitated going into that final game.
But tensions had actually started to boil in the previous game. Padres’ second baseman Alan Wiggins had repeatedly tried to bunt his way aboard. Braves pitcher Pascual Perez, who was in the dugout, didn’t appreciate that. After Wiggins’ third attempt to bunt for a hit, Perez yelled at him to swing the bat. Wiggins didn’t – or maybe he just didn’t hear Perez? In his fourth at-bat, he tried to lay down another bunt. That got Perez really heated and the two had a screaming match.
Well, guess who was starting Sunday’s game for the Braves – Pascual Perez. He wasted absolutely no time and drilled Wiggins with the first pitch of the game. Now remember, this was 1984 and there was no DH in the National League. Perez would have to hit for himself.
He did so in the bottom of the second with the Braves leading 2-0. Padres starter Ed Whitson was looking for payback and tried to hit Perez – except he missed and threw a wild pitch. Home plate umpire Steve Rippley issued warnings to both teams in an attempt to squash things. Whitson would strike Perez out but the Braves added a run to take a 3-0 lead.
Then things got weird.
Perez came up in the bottom of the fourth and Whitson tried to hit him again – three times. Somehow, he managed to miss every single time. Rippley had seen enough and tossed Whitson – maybe for being so bad at trying to hit guys? – and Padres manager Dick Williams. Greg Booker replaced Whitson and Ozzie Virgil Sr. replaced Williams as acting manager.
Well, neither of them lasted long as they were both tossed in the sixth inning. Jack Krol was now the Padres’ third manager, while Greg Harris took over on the mound. And for two innings things seemed to have calmed down. The game headed to the eighth with the Braves leading 5-1.
Craig Lefferts came in to pitch for the Padres when who else but Mr. Perez stepped to the plate. Lefferts must’ve felt left out from all the action so what did he do? He drilled Perez – hey, at least he hit him, unlike Whitson. Both benches cleared and a 10-minute brawl ensued. Lefferts and Krol were tossed. If you’re keeping track, that made three managers ejected from one team in a single game.
In addition to Lefferts and Krol, Padres outfielder Bobby Brown was tossed, along with Gerald Perry, Rick Mahler and Steve Bedrosian of the Braves. That brought the ejection count to Padres 8, Braves 3.
You’d think a benches-clearing, 10-minute brawl with multiple ejections would be the end of it. It was the ninth inning, surely nothing else would happen…
Well, Donnie Moore decided to go full villain. He came in to pitch for the Braves and drilled the first batter he saw, Graig Nettles. That set off a second benches-clearing brawl, this one lasting close to fifteen minutes. There were multiple ejections, including Braves manager Joe Torre.
Things got so bad that crew chief John McSherry ordered both teams – whoever was left – to leave the dugout and go to the clubhouse. Police had to stand on the dugouts to keep fans from getting involved.
After the dust cleared, the Padres would make things interesting and score 2 in the ninth before ultimately losing 5-3.
But, hey! They won the ejection game by a score of 12-5. That’s right – a dozen Padres were tossed.
The best part of this whole thing? Pascual Perez and Alan Wiggins – the two who started this melee – didn’t get thrown out. In fact, Perez got the win!
Isn’t baseball awesome?