On May 19, 1998, the Orioles learned not to throw at Tino. The O’s were up 5-4 in the eighth inning and Armando Benitez was on the mound. Bernie Williams came up and did what Bernie does, hitting a three run homer to give the Yanks the lead. The next batter up was Tino Martinez, who had a history with Benitez. In 1995, when he was with Seattle, Tino was facing Benitez after giving up a homer to the first batter he faced and was hit by a pitch, triggering a brawl.
Benitez, perhaps angry about blowing the lead or the Orioles sub .500 season, drilled Tino directly between the shoulder blades. The benches cleared and chaos ensued. The Yankees came out of the dugout which, in turn, drew out the O’s to protect their pitcher. There wasn’t a whole lot going on besides yelling back and fourth until Graeme Lloyd came sprinting in from the Yankees’ bullpen to charge Benitez.
The brawl moved toward the Orioles’ dugout as Darryl Strawberry sucker punched Benitez. The force of his swing threw him into the dugout, with players from both teams following. Alan Mills punched Strawberry in the face and Strawberry emerged bleeding from mouth after being restrained by Orioles bench coach Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr. and Joe Torre.
It took about ten minutes for things to calm down. When the dust settled, home plate umpire Drew Coble ejected Benitez, Lloyd, Mills, Jeff Nelson and Strawberry.
“I ejected Benitez almost before the pitch got there. You’re always looking for it and hope it doesn’t happen. I felt he would throw at him. I didn’t feel he would throw up at his head like he did. If you’re going to throw at anyone you throw at his feet.” -Drew Coble
Benitez insisted he didn’t do it on purpose and the Orioles put the blame on the Yanks for triggering the fight. However, after hitting Tino, Benitez appeared to dare the Yankees by dropping his glove, stretching out his arms and curling his fingers as if calling them out of their dugout.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in 25 years. That guy that pitcher should be suspended for the rest of the year. That was a classless act. He’s got no class.” -George Steinbrenner
The Boss wouldn’t get what he wanted, but Benitez would be suspended for eight games. Strawberry and Lloyd got three games while Mills and Nelson got two.
The Yankees would get the last laugh on their way to the greatest regular season since Murderers’ Row, winning 114 games and the World Series. The Orioles finished 79-83 and Benitez would bounce around the league.
