Brandon Phillips is a Major League Baseball second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. Originally drafted by the Montreal Expos, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 2002 along with Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Lee Stevens. He then was traded to the Reds in 2006.http://www.redreporter.com/pages/the-red-report-brandon-phi

Phillips has a career batting average over .260, and he hit is 100th career home run in 2010. He had a career year in 2007 when he hit 30 home runs, stole 32 bases, and batted .288. These stats put him in a very prestigious group of players known as the 30/30 club. This refers to players who have recorded 30 or more home runs as well as 30 stolen bases in the same season. Only 36 players in MLB history have done this.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hitting/hi3030c.shtml

On August 10, 2010, during a game between the then-first-place Reds, and the second place St. Louis Cardinals, Brandon Phillips was stepping up to the plate for his turn at bat. Prior to this game, Phillips had been vocal about his feelings regarding the Cardinals:

He said, "I'd play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is b*tch and moan about everything, all of them, they're little b*tches, all of 'em. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals."http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2010/08/reds-cards_brawl_triggered_by.html

As Phillips was preparing for the first pitch, Yadier Molina, the Cardinals' catcher, moved Phillips's bat with his foot, causing an altercation between the two, and eventually starting a benches-clearing brawl. The fight was nasty, with pitchers Chris Carpenter and Johnny Cueto pinned against the backstop, and catcher Jason LaRue getting kicked in the head, receiving a concussion.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=300810117

After all was said and done, managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa were ejected but all the players were allowed to continue the game. Phillips grounded out, and the Cardinals won the game 8-4 to pull into a tie for first place in the division.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5453285 Cueto was suspended for 7 games, both managers were suspended for 2 games, and Phillips, Molina, Carpenter, and Cardinals reliever Russ Springer were all issued fines.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5458170

Brandon Phillips began his career with the Cleveland Indians, but was bounced back and forth from the majors to AAA baseball. The Indians soon grew impatient with Phillips' inconsistency and traded him to the Cincinnati Reds in 2006. Phillips quickly became the starter at first base for the Reds and led the team with 148 hits in his first year with the organization. Phillips was named National League Player of the Week within a month of being acquired by the Reds. He also hit his first grand slam in that same month.http://www.redreporter.com/pages/the-red-report-brandon-phi