The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants comprise one of sports’ most storied rivalries. The animosity between the two teams has stayed as strong in recent years, with Madison Bumgarner and Yasiel Puig especially becoming lightning rods of conflict.
Newcomers to the rivalry, like Giants outfielder Andrew McCutchen, got their first taste of that conflict Tuesday night. Tensions rose after Puig was visibly frustrated with himself after fouling off a pitch in the seventh inning.
Puig’s reaction upset Giants backup catcher Nick Hundley, who stood up and began talking to Puig before the two men exchanged shoves.
In a flash, both benches emptied and both players had to be restrained along with several of their teammates. At one point, Dodgers first base coach George Lombard got trampled in a sea of gray, orange and black as he tried to restrain Hundley.
Standing in right field, McCutchen had a unique perspective of the brawl. He shared his experience in a hilarious series of social media videos, which Sports Illustrated spliced together:
Andrew McCutchen's breakdown of Tuesday's Giants-Dodgers brawl is priceless 😂
(via @TheCUTCH22) pic.twitter.com/85qIpA7cdG— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 15, 2018
In the video, McCutchen says he had no idea about the spat between Puig and Hundley until he heard the crowd react to it. He did not even fully understand what was going on until he saw members of the Giants bullpen sprinting past him.
At one point, McCutchen compared an outfielder at a brawl to a child who arrives late to a friend’s birthday party.
Puig and Hundley were both ejected from the game, which the Giants eventually won. Given the hard feelings that spilled over into the postgame for both players, McCutchen’s impromptu recap injects some nice lightheartedness into what was a tense situation.
At the very least, it was far more detailed than Hundley’s version of how the brawl went down.
