MLB manager tackles World Series hero ‘on warpath’ in brutal brawl with nasty ‘haymaker’ punches thrown

Most baseball fights fail to live up to the hype, with punches rarely thrown and players backing away.

A fierce brawl between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angles on Tuesday was a serious exception.

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Biggest fight of baseball season turned violent quick

“That was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge (Soler) off his feet, because he was on a warpath,” said Braves manager Walt Weiss, who helped tackle Soler during a fight that featured a series of punches thrown near the middle of the diamond.

A Major League Baseball skipper tackling an opposing player captured the intensity of the brawl, which resulted in two ejections during the Braves’ eventual 7-2 victory over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

Adding to the drama was the fact that Soler used to play for the Braves, which meant that Weiss helped take down a former Atlanta star slugger.

“They’re throwing haymakers,” one fan tweeted.

“That’s a Big Boy fight!” a second fan posted.

“Somebody call the fire department, because that dugout just went up in flames,” a third fan wrote.

The tension began after Atlanta pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw a pitch high and inside with Soler standing at the plate.

Lopez stared at the batter’s box, stretched out both arms and held a baseball in one hand while slowly walking toward home.

Soler was World Series hero for team he punched

Soler, who spent the 2021 and ’24 seasons with the Braves, accelerated his pace and squared up to confront Lopez.

Then the former World Series MVP went on the attack and became the aggressor vs a team that he helped win a world championship.

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“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” Weiss said after the fight.

“But that’s a big man. I just felt I gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. 

The 62-year-old Weiss, who spent 14 seasons as an MLB player, was in the center of a charged brawl that saw Soler throw hard punches.

As Lopez backed away and tried to find space, Soler dug in and kept attacking.

Manager tackled ‘big’ Soler to protect backtracking pitcher

More than 20 players and coaches formed a loose circle, and the fight only calmed down when Weiss dove into Soler’s lower body and helped take down the 6ft 3in and 225 lb designated hitter from Cuba.

Soler believed that Lopez’s high-and-inside pitch was intentional.

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The ex-Brave was then backed by his new Angles manager.

“I don’t blame Jorge one bit,” Angels skipper Kurt Suzuki said.

“Anytime you get thrown at your head … it’s dangerous. I know it’s part of the game. I know it happens.

“But you ask any hitter, ball gets thrown near their head, especially after hitting a homer, you know, it’s not good.”

Soler gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first inning and threw multiple punches in the fifth-inning brawl.

But he was ejected from the game after the melee and Atlanta improved to 7-5 after outlasting the Angels.

“Benches empty, bullpens running in, all because of one up-and-in pitch. Classic baseball fight vibes!” one fan posted.

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