Baseball brawls are no fun when the players’ safety is at stake.

Brawling has been part of baseball for a hundred years, and players can get hurt more in the melee than from what started the fight. The why’s and wherefores are always worth debating, but like the brawls themselves no one wins in the end.

YouTube the donnybrook in San Francisco the other night for one of the scariest brawls you’ll ever see. Giants’ reliever Hunter Strickland hit Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper with a blistering fast ball; Harper pointed his bat at Strickland, then charged the mound, threw his helmet and the biggest brawl of the season was on. Each player landed a punch to the other’s face before both sides raced out to join in or break it up the fight.

Apparently, bad blood had been boiling since the 2014 playoffs, when Harper slammed two home runs off Strickland and celebrated the second a little too much. Even though they were both mammoth homers that wound up in San Francisco Bay, the Giants went on to win their third World Series in five years. So why should Strickland still be mad at Harper? And can you blame Harper for reacting to someone trying to hurt him with a 98-mile-an-hour pitch that could end another Hall of Fame season for the Nats’ slugger?

Baseball is a team game with individual dramas galore. One pitcher beans one player, and both benches take it personally. Cubs’ hurler Jake Arietta says no batter has ever charged toward him on the mound, but he wouldn’t mind if it happened for good reason. He thinks the players and teams should have it out physically instead of sparring verbally and letting the issues fester over three seasons.

The teams are in different places today than in 2014, as the Giants are spiraling toward last place in the National League West, while Washington has built an eight-game lead in its division. The bad blood remained for both ball clubs as the Nationals went to AT&T Park for their first series this season.

This was Harper’s first at-bat against Strickland in the last three years. On the first pitch, he was nailed on the hip with what the home plate ump ruled intentional. Strickland claimed he was just brushing Harper back. So they settled the score the old fashion way. It’s part of the game and the frustration that builds over long hot summers, especially with teams heading in opposite directions.