Remembering Mets History (1980) The Pat Zachry- Ron Cey Bench Clearing Brawl
The Dodgers were holding a half game lead over the Houston Astros who would eventually win their first divisional title that season.
Joe Torre's Mets were in fourth place Mets, under .500 at 24-27. They would remain around the .500-mark until mid-August then a seven-game losing streak, in a stretch where they lost 14 of 17 games killed any chances of a .500 finish.
The Mets sent pitcher Pat Zachry (1-2) who had come over in the Tom Seaver trade three years earlier (1977) to the mound going up against L.A.'s Bob Welch (6-1).
In the top of the 1st, Zachry retired the side in order. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs, the leagues leading hitter, Steve Henderson came to bat for New York. Bob Welch hit Henderson on the left arm with a pitch. He was then caught stealing to end the inning.
Cey trotted up to first base then halfway down the line, charged the mound & tackled Zachry at the knees. Cey was a full foot shorter than the 6' 5" tall Zachry. It was a strange scene, considering Zachry looked more like a fisherman than an angry baseball player. But never underestimate appearances.
The Mets answered & had a big bottom of the 4th inning, sending nine men to the plate, collecting four base hits, drawing two walks & scoring four runs.
Next for the Mets, Mike Jorgensen drew a walk. Elliott Maddox hit a sac fly, scoring John Stearns with the games tying run.
The young Bob Welch, who had been in the league three years at that point, was having his bests season to date, winning six straight games entering this contest. He finished the year at 14-9.
In the top of the 2nd, Pat Zachry who had not faced the Dodgers in two years, served up back-to-back HRs to L.A. sluggers, Steve Garvey & Dusty Baker. The next batter was Dodger third baseman, Ron Cey.
After two breaking pitches that were both strikes, Zachry must have taken exception to the back-to-back HRs, the attitude that went along with them & the earlier Welch pitch that hit Steve Henderson. Zachry drilled Cey with a pitch on his upper thigh.
Cey trotted up to first base then halfway down the line, charged the mound & tackled Zachry at the knees. Cey was a full foot shorter than the 6' 5" tall Zachry. It was a strange scene, considering Zachry looked more like a fisherman than an angry baseball player. But never underestimate appearances. Both benches cleared & the bullpens emptied as everyone was on the field in a classic bench clearing brawl. Everyone mottled around for five minutes before order was restored on the field. The umpiring crew of John Kibler, Terry Tata, Dick Stello & Bruce Froemming decided only Ron Cey was to be ejected from the game.
Quotes- Pat Zachry: "I was just trying to move him off the plate. Then I heard some yelling & turned & saw him, so I told him to come on".
In the top of the 4th inning, Dusty Baker hit another HR off Zachry, a two-run shot, making it 4-0 Dodgers. Pat Zachry would pitch four innings overall, allowing four runs, three of them on HRs. He gave up five hits, struck out two &walked nobody. In the 5th, he was relieved by Tom Hausman.
Lee Mazzilli & Frank Tavares led off the inning with base hits. Then Steve Henderson drew a walk to load the bases.
Mets catcher, John Stearns who was batting .309 & would make his third All Star team that season, bounced a ball to short stop that took a wicked bounce over Bill Russell's head for a single scoring in Mazzilli & Tavares, bringing the Mets within two runs at 4-2. Joel Youngblood's sac fly made it a one run, 4-3 game.
Next for the Mets, Mike Jorgensen drew a walk. Elliott Maddox hit a sac fly, scoring John Stearns with the games tying run.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Bob Welch was still pitching for L.A. After getting the first two outs, Mike Jorgensen singled & Welch walked Elliott Maddox. Mets second baseman Doug Flynn then singled bringing in Jorgensen in what was to be the game's winning run.
For the Mets, Tom Hausman pitched five innings of shutout ball in relief, earning the win to go to 2-1. The Mets had now won eleven of their last seventeen games. Bob Welch took the loss for L.A. getting to 6-2.
Quotes- Steve Garvey: "I think that the fight changed the chemistry, at least for the Mets. If it doesn't happen, they're down four runs & slipping. But it seemed to turn them on."