Two Brawls in First for Angels, Padres

Aaron Sele lost his contact lenses. Troy Glaus got tackled from behind, by a catcher. Shawn Wooten got his uniform top yanked off, and got some bruises and a fat lip. Mickey Hatcher, the batting coach, had blood dripping from beneath his right eye.

The Angels were roughed up in two bench-clearing brawls during the first inning of Saturday’s 9-5 Cactus League loss to the San Diego Padres. The Padres were roughed up too--Scott Spiezio threw a right that connected with the face of San Diego coach Tim Flannery--as Sele and the Padres’ Ryan Klesko apparently settled a score that had absolutely nothing to do with the Angels.

With two out in the first inning, Sele hit Klesko in the lower back with the first pitch. Klesko immediately threw off his helmet, charged the mound, grabbed Sele by the head and threw him to the ground. Klesko was ejected. The next batter, Phil Nevin, hit a home run.

In the bottom of the inning, on the first pitch to Glaus, the Padres’ Bobby Jones backed him away with an off-speed pitch. On the third pitch, Jones came in high and tight with a fastball, and Glaus charged the mound. San Diego catcher Adan Amezcua tackled him before he could get there, but the second melee was on, this one resulting in the ejections of Glaus, Spiezio, Jones, Nevin and Padre Manager Bruce Bochy.

Klesko said he knew this day was coming since last June, when he hit a home run off Sele, then pitching for the Seattle Mariners. According to Klesko, Sele took exception to perceived showboating, refused to discuss the issue after the game and told Nevin that he would hit Klesko the next time he faced him.

Sele said he could not recall such a conversation with either Klesko or Nevin and denied any intent to hit Klesko.

“It was obvious,” Klesko said. “First pitch the next time I see him, and he hits me in the back. What was I supposed to do? Go to first?”

Despite the denial of intent, Sele did not appear upset in the least that Klesko charged the mound.

“If he thought I was throwing at him, he was doing the right thing,” Sele said.

Klesko said the Padre players anticipated an incident in talking before the game, and one Angel player said he did too. Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said he “didn’t know of any history” and said he was “absolutely shocked” when Klesko charged the mound. When Scioscia tried to tell Klesko he was not hit on purpose, Klesko waved him off.

“How does he know?” Klesko said. “He just picked up the guy [this season].”

Klesko acknowledged his flair sometimes incites ire in opposing pitchers.

“Sometimes maybe I do deserve it,” he said. “I gave him a chance last year to talk about it. He didn’t want to. He wanted to hit me.”

In Act Two, Jones nearly hit Glaus twice, the second time with a pitch that appeared to violate the unwritten rule that revenge is exacted with pitches below the neck.

“You can’t take liberties when people start throwing at your head,” Glaus said.

Said Jones: “I will protect my hitters. I wanted to throw one in, but I didn’t want to throw one high. I didn’t want to hit him, and I didn’t.”

Nonetheless, Spiezio was enraged.

“Klesko retaliated, Nevin hits a home run, and that’s not enough? They try to hit him once, and then they throw at his head? That’s off limits.”

Spiezio was so angry he threw a few punches, which led to his ejection and to some disgust in the San Diego clubhouse.

“I’ve got nothing wrong with what Aaron did,” Nevin said. “He backed up his words.... I’ve got no problem with what Troy did. Anybody comes up and in like that on me, I’m going to do the same thing he did. I’ve got no problem with what Ryan did.

“I’ve got a problem with what a couple of their players did. When guys are throwing cheap shots, they need to be taught a lesson. There’s a couple of guys over there that need to be taught a lesson, one guy in particular.”

Spiezio? “That’s a pretty good guess,” Nevin said.

The Angels and Padres, who play again Wednesday, do not meet in the regular season.