Fight Night at the Fens

When it was announced that Red Sox reliever Julian Tavarez had been designated for assignment, most of us lamented the fact that we’d lost another player who wasn’t afraid to throw down when the situation called for it. With the loss of Trot Nixon and the acquisition of infamous nice guy Sean Casey, we figured the only slugging we’d see would come from David Ortiz’s bat.

But then Coco Crisp decided he’d had enough last night, and started the best fight at Fenway Park since Pedro Martinez dropped Don Zimmer.

The Sox outfielder rushed the mound after he was hit by a James Shield’s pitch in the bottom of the second inning. Coco’s moves have met with universal approval here at Boston Daily HQ. “He looked like Neo from The Matrix out there,” someone quipped at the coffee pot.

Coco continued to air his grievances with the Rays, telling NESN later in the locker room that the players were scratching him “like little girls.”

But perhaps the weirdest part of last night’s fight was watching Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis duke it out later in the game. Don Orsillo expressed shock that Manny could get that upset about anything. Amalie Benjamin reports that nobody in the clubhouse would give an explanation, but that Terry Francona blamed it on boys being boys.

“I think they were just exchanging some views on things,” he said. “We had a lot of testosterone going tonight. It was kind of a hectic night. Sometimes those things happen. It wasn’t really a big deal, it won’t be a big deal, it happens. We’ll get by that one. In fact, it’s been handled and we’ll move on from that one.”

Maybe we need Tavarez back to keep Manny calm.