Blue Jays: Familiar face involved in CPBL empty stadium brawl

Earlier this week, a former Toronto Blue Jays player was involved in an empty stadium brawl during a Chinese Professional Baseball League game.

The CPBL has resumed its season play in light of the Coronavirus pandemic playing games in empty stadiums in Taiwan. Tensions boiled over in a recent contest between the Fubon Guardians and the Rakuten Monkeys and the benches cleared after repeated attempts to plunk Monkeys second baseman Kuo Yen-Wen.

Guardians pitcher Henry Sosa took the liberty of throwing inside fastballs at Yen-Wen three times before finally landing one in his back which triggered the benches to clear. The brawl was very tame compared to that of North American standards, however, at the 1:27 mark in the video I observed a familiar name in the middle of the melee.

Unbeknownst to me former Blue Jays outfielder and Canadian Rob Ducey is currently the outfield/hitting coach for the Guardians in Taiwan.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King
• Toronto Blue Jays: Has the Shift Killed Kevin Gausman’s 2022 Cy Young Hopes?
• Blue Jays: What Yusei Kikuchi’s latest stumble should mean

The Cambridge, Ontario native spent parts of seven seasons in Toronto during two separate tenures with the Blue Jays. Ducey made his MLB debut with Toronto in 1987 spending the next six seasons in his home and native land.

Ducey was dealt at the trade deadline in 1992 along with catcher Greg Myers to the California Angels in exchange for reliever Mark Eichhorn. Unfortunately for Ducey, he was not around for the back-to-back championships in 92 and 93, however, Eichhorn was a welcomed addition in the bullpen.

The Canuck would return to the Blue Jays in 2000 after Toronto acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies for John Sneed on July 26th. In a surprise twist, Ducey was sent back to the Phillies on August 07th in exchange for Mickey Morandini. Ducey would only see action in five games for Toronto during his second stint.

The outfielder would round out his career in 2001 with the Montreal Expos playing 703 MLB games spanning over 13 seasons. Ducey hit .231/.307/.321 with a pair of homers in 188 career games with the Blue Jays.

The MLB veteran has occupied a number of MLB baseball-related positions since retirement, leading to his current assignment in the CPBL.