How fiery Phil Nevin won over the Angels: 'The energy he brings is contagious'
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Phil Nevin was in the visiting clubhouse in Kansas City, Mo., having been ejected from a June 2, 1998, game for charging the mound and inciting a seventh-inning brawl, when another fight broke out between the Angels and Royals in the ninth.
Amid the usual shoving, finger-pointing and screaming, Royals infielder Felix Martinez sucker-punched Angels utility man Frank Bolick in the mouth, touching off a wild melee that lasted 15 minutes.
Nevin, who spent one of his 12 big league seasons as an Angels catcher, didn't see Martinez's blind-side blow until after the game, when it was shown on a clubhouse television, which was probably for the best.
"If I would have seen that live," Nevin said that night, "I would have run onto the field naked and killed him."
Two months later, the Angels were slumping in Seattle, having opened July with five losses after going 22-6 in June. Then-manager Terry Collins expressed concern before a July 9 game that the Angels lacked intensity and emotion.
Not for long. Disgusted after taking a called third strike with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of an 8-6 loss, Nevin hurled his bat toward the dugout and was immediately ejected by umpire
