The Sox/Yanks Rivalry Reaches A Hilarious New Low

I keep thinking there's no way this story can be real, and yet it is. A Boston Red Sox fan actually lost a a $25,000 lawsuit in California last week for getting punched in the face by a Yankees fan during a bar fight.

Yes, you read that right.

Apparently the Sox fan, David Sanborn, was punched in the mouth by Yankees fan Mario Melendez and his tooth got lodged in Melendez's hand.

The Golden State dust-up took place at the Grand Avenue Bar & Grill in Carlsbad, Calif., one afternoon back in 2006, when Sanborn was cheering on the Sox vs. Tampa Bay, and Melendez was rooting for the Yanks over the Cleveland Indians. Yankees slugger Jason Giambi hit a home run, and when Melendez cheered, he says, Sanborn told him to “Sit your fat ass down, Jeter.”

The confrontation escalated, and Melendez claimed he punched Sanborn in self-defense after the 6-foot-1-inch man lifted him in the air. “I thought he was going to bodyslam me, so I hit him in the mouth and I broke his teeth,” Melendez said.

Of all the professions in the world, Melendez is actually a professional bongo player - making him the only one on earth. So naturally he did what any guy with no money and no career would do, he sued. And thanks to my great state of California, where you're required to have done mind-altering drugs to be on a jury, he won.

Normally I'd be more upset about this, but not in this case. The important thing to remember is that two idiotic fans were hurt in this process. That's good enough for me.