Tempers Boiled Over as Jose Iglesias Shoved James McCann in the Tigers Dugout

Just a few short hours after this very website tried to convince us that fighting in baseball was a thing of the past, Detroit Tigers Jose Iglesias and James McCann had a very physical dugout confrontation.

Television cameras captured the All-Star shortstop shoving the rookie catcher late in last night’s loss to the Boston Red Sox. Iglesias then hurled his glove at McCann as players tried to separate the two. The toss was both ineffective and less impressive than the work he usually does with leather.

If you’re handicapping the odds at home, McCann checks in at a sturdy 210 pounds while Iglesias is generously listed at 185 pounds.

No one on the Tigers, including the primaries involved, gave any details on what the sparked the disagreement.

"“It’s an in-house subject and we got it taken care of,” McCann said. “Jose and I are both rooting for each other and we’re both rooting for each other as the game went on.” The speculation is that McCann was calling out Iglesias for his effort on a Rusney Castillo single, a groundball up the middle, in the top of the sixth inning. “No, I didn’t,” Ausmus said when asked if he had any issue with Iglesias’ effort on the play, in which he did not dive at a ball that he may or may not have been able to make a play on. “I didn’t notice any effort or problems. I didn’t see anything at all.” When asked if that specifically is what the teammates disagreed on, Ausmus said, “It’s over. I’m not getting into the specifics.” And that was the overriding theme inside the Tigers’ clubhouse afterwards."

Sitting three games under .500 and with wildcard hopes on life support, any sign of emotion is a good sign. Perhaps tonight Gene Lamont can body-slam Omar Vizquel. You know … really give the people what they want.

[Detroit Free Press]