Wicked Good Sports has a list of their top 5 Red Sox brawlers from the past two decades. Everything looks good - Greenwell seems rough enough around the edges; we've spoken many times about how Tavarez was crazy (and even saw him go into full action mode once for no apparent reason); Trot Nixon's "dirt dog" moniker stems as much from his willingness to charge into any fight (particularly against the Rays) as it did from his body-destroying style of outfield defense; but the list falls flat at Rich Garces. Really? El Guapo was the best you guys could come up with out of twenty years of players? I can tell you who jumps to mind as a much better alternative with less than sixty seconds of thought: Tom Brunansky.In case you're not vigorously nodding your head, here are some points in Bruno's favor:
- The 'Stache. When you're looking for a group of guys to back you up in a fight, you can never go wrong with someone who's got a well-developed lip covering. I'm working on a theory that a good mustache is worth at least six months of training as a boxer.
- Slugging Power. Brunansky won't ever stand out as a phenomenal hitter, but he was certainly someone poured out of the classic slugger mold. Sluggers are big guys, big guys are good to have in a brawl.
- The Nickname. Who would you rather have guarding your back? A guy whose nickname means "The Beautiful One," or a guy whose nickname makes him sound like a mob enforcer?
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