Baseball Fri Jul 25 2008

That's How They Play in Peoria

The Cubs' Peoria farm team, the Chiefs, got in a brawl with the Dayton Dragons Thursday evening — in the first inning! Both managers and 15 players were ejected from the game, and a spectator was taken to the hospital after getting hit by a baseball thrown at the Dragons' dugout by pitcher Julio Castillo (as Chicagoist said, guess we know why Castillo's still in the minors.) It was Castillo who instigated the fight, in fact, by retaliating for a hit batter by hitting not one but two batters, and threatening a third. That brought Dragons manager Donnie Scott down to talk with the umps, Chiefs manager Carmelo Martinez down to defend — and the rest is history. Here's some video:

The ejections were reversed by the league commissioner to avoid forcing the teams to use their bullpens to fill in the outfield.

You'll be able to catch the Chiefs in action -- well, playing baseball, at least -- next Tuesday when they play the Kane County Cougars at Wrigley. Tickets are still available.

- Andrew Huff