July 22, 1986, Riverfront Stadium
Mets 6 Reds 3 (14 innings) Boxscore HERE
With the game tied 3-3 in the 10th inning, Eric Davis stole third base. Davis made contact with Knight on his pop-up slide into the base. Knight then shoved Davis. When 3B umpire Eric Gregg jumped in to restrain Davis, Knight threw a punch that connected with the face of Davis. It was on. The brawl lasted a full 16 minutes.
Knight and Davis, plus Kevin Mitchell and Mario Soto were ejected.
The Mets ran out of position players immediately after the brawl in the 10th-inning. The Mets had to bring both LHP Jesse Orosco and RHP Roger McDowell into the game. Hall of Famer catcher to be Gary Carter was forced to play third base.
McDowell pitched to Reds righties while Orosco played right field with Mookie Wilson in left. Orosco would then come on to pitch to lefties while McDowell played left and Wilson shifted to right. Orosco would face eight batters while McDowell faced 10.
Howard Johnson's three-run blast in the 14 inning was the winner for the Mets.
''When he elbowed me,'' Knight said, ''I said to him, 'What's your problem?' He said, 'You pushed me.' We had hit each other solidly, but I knew he had the base. I'm at peace with myself about it. I don't like to fight with anybody, but I felt threatened.''
Dave Parker, said: ''It was triggered by Knight. He pushed Davis off the base. That's the second time in this series that it's happened, and both times it was at third base with him. He was aggressive, and Eric just reacted.''
More from NY Times HERE