Yankees vs. Red Sox, 2003
The 2003 American League Championship Series between the Yankees and the Red Sox had it all, but it truly sprang to life in Game 3, after the teams had split the first two games, when the benches cleared and 72-year-old Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer charged the Red Sox' ace pitcher Pedro Martinez. Martinez threw the man 40 years his elder to the ground. Nobody came out of the brawl with any credit, but in terms of the sport, the Yanks got the win. The series would come down to Game 7, a pitching rematch of that infamous third game. Martinez was at his brilliant best, but his manager, Grady Little, left him in to pitch the eighth despite being evidently tired. Sure enough, Matinez let a 5-2 lead slip away, and the game went to extra innings. The Yankees' great closer Mariano Rivera tossed three shutout innings, while the Sox' Tim Wakefield gave up the decisive run to the not exactly stellar Aaron Boone, who'd entered the game as a pinch runner. His home run off the first pitch he saw from Wakefield was one of the most dramatic moments in playoff history, and the Sox — yet again — had to lick their wounds.