THE SANDLOT — Major League Baseball has implemented rule changes in recent years to make the game more exciting for fans, including adding a pitch timer and changing the size of the bases to encourage more action.
But that wasn't the reason a game between the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves in Anaheim, California, got a lot of attention Tuesday night.
Instead, internet users were tuning in to the highlights to watch the melee that broke out after the Angels' Jorge Soler got upset with the Braves' Reynaldo López throwing a pitch high and slightly inside.
Soler charged the mound, and the situation quickly escalated as the players began throwing punches. Players from both teams entered the fray — some, to break it up.
Even Braves manager Walt Weiss got involved, leaving the dugout to help tackle Soler to the ground. Weiss and Soler spent time in Atlanta together when the Braves won the World Series in 2021, and there appeared not to be any animosity between the two.
"We have a good relationship," Soler told MLB.com. "I don't think he tried to do anything against me. We're friends. I think he was just trying to protect me."
Weiss chimed in, saying, "I love Soler," according to the Associated Press. "But that's a big man, and so I just felt I've gotta get him off his feet because he's gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, yeah, because he was on a warpath."
If Weiss decides his days as a baseball manager are done, he may have a future with another Atlanta sports team.
The Atlanta Falcons football team shared a photo of Weiss tackling Soler on Wednesday morning with the caption: "Come put on the pads, Skip."
And who says baseball isn't exciting?
Come put on the pads, Skip pic.twitter.com/A2XtqeWiaj
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) April 8, 2026
Have You Seen This?
