As a guest on the Jim Rome show on July 23rd Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips openly said “baseball is boring, we have to bring some excitement.”

Yes, one thing that can definitely be said about Brandon Phillips is that he speaks from the heart and doesn’t believe in words such as “politically correct” or “diplomatic”. He also has a flare for the dramatic and is determined help get Cincinnati back into the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

It comes as no surprise then that Phillips wasn’t at a loss for words when speaking about the amount of respect he has for the Reds NL Central rival the St. Louis Cardinals.

“We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear – I hate the Cardinals.”

Sometimes players take backhanded swipes when trying to rip an opponent or the comment has to be thoroughly analyzed to understand the meaning behind it. No analyzing or investigation is required in this situation to understand the meaning behind Brandon’s comments. The old phrase goes that when you make a controversial statement you light a match, well Phillips lighted the match and then poured a couple tanks of gasoline on the fire. To say that emotions between the Reds and Cardinals would be running high going into Tuesday night’s game at Great American Ballpark would be an understatement.

On Tuesday night it wouldn’t take more than one inning for the situation to hit its tipping point. In the bottom of the first inning Brandon Phillips walked to the plate and tapped his bat on Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina’s shin guard. It should be known that many players in the league do this besides Phillips and this act is usually taken as a friendly gesture. After Phillip’s comments though Molina was in no mood to be friendly. The two players exchanged words, Phillips took off his helmet, Molina took off his mask, and it didn’t take long before both benches cleared.

What happened next was a seven minute brawl that turned rough quickly. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Reds manager Dusty Baker argued with each other in the middle of the crowd. Former Cardinal Scott Rolen pushed St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter into the backstop. Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto also ended up pinned against the screen, but Cueto decided to put his spiked cleats to use and starting kicking away at Cardinal players. The end result of the melee was Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue having a slight concussion after being kicked in the head, Carpenter having several scrapes across his back, and the ejections of Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa.

The Cardinals would go on to win the game 8-4 and at the time take their second straight game of the series, but of course no one wanted to talk about the game rather everyone wanted to talk about the first inning brawl. Chris Carpenter in particular was not happy with Johnny Cueto’s fighting techniques.

"I turn around and I've got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes," Carpenter said. "It's super unprofessional. I don't know where he learned how to fight."

Carpenter saying that repeatedly getting kicked in the back by Cueto’s cleats was unprofessional is of course the media friendly way of describing the situation.

Cueto maintained that he was just thinking about his own safety when he started kicking.

"I was trying to break it up," Cueto said, with catcher Ramon Hernandez translating. "The next thing I know, 15-20 people were around me. I was up against the net. When 15 people are around you, you get scared. I had my back to the wall with my feet up."

Regardless of what happened during the brawl if there was any question of a rivalry between the Cincinnati Reds and St.Louis Cardinals those questions can be put to rest. The two teams have of course been battling all season for position atop the division standings, but there was never any indication that the two squads disliked each other. Well it is now clear that these teams do dislike each other a lot. It is uncommon in itself to see the benches clear in baseball. When tempers get so high that managers are in each other’s faces, players are getting kicked in the head, and the brawl lasts seven minutes that is when you know that there is a shared hatred. Phillips’ slamming of St. Louis calling them “little bitches” wasn’t just ordinary talk and this wasn’t just an ordinary brawl. There were definitely some guys looking to do some damage out there.

The one thing that may get forgotten though with all of this focus on the brawl and the comments by Brandon Phillips was that St.Louis is leaving Cincy after picking up three straight road wins against the Reds at Great American Ballpark. Cincinnati entered this pivotal series two games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central standings, but after these three games St. Louis is now one game ahead of Cincinnati and back in first place. This of course doesn’t mean that the Cardinals are the definite favorites to win the division or that the Reds playoff chances are now on life support. Both teams have over 45 more games to play this season and the division is still up for grabs.

This series will ultimately be remembered by many for the bench clearing brawl, but it is actually a missed opportunity for a Reds team that is trying to get back to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years.

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