I was sitting in my apartment in Bryan, Ohio on June 20, 1980 watching the Tigers play the White Sox in Chicago on my small black-and-white TV (yes, kids, there used to be such a thing) when Al Cowens of Detroit hit a routine infield pop-up and ran directly to the mound and began swinging at pitcher Ed Farmer.
Apparently there had been some bad blood between the two, and as it came to a head, both benches emptied. Baseball fights are usually pretty tame, with a lot of pushing and posturing, but this one stood out for two reasons. First, the TV cameras stayed with it the whole time, and secondly this was a REAL fight, with Summers one of the main combatants.
As the teams swarmed around the mound in a rugby-like scrum, Summers and teammate Richie Hebner would reach into the pile, pull out a White Sox player, then lay him out with one punch. They would then discard that dazed victim and reach back into the pile for another. So it went for nearly five minutes.
Cowens received a seven-game suspension, and there was a warrant for his arrest in Chicago on assault charges. However, Farmer agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a handshake. The two even delivered the lineup cards to home plate at a Tigers-White Sox game later that season.
Summers’ unremarkable career ended in 1984. In 11 seasons he hit .255 with 54 home runs. And a couple of knockouts.
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