How the “Thrilla with Piniella” Changed Baseball in Cincinnati FOREVER

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If there's one thing we know about baseball, it's that it can inspire... "passion" in its fans, players, and coaches. From Ty Cobb, to Ted Williams, to Carlos Zambrano, MLB has seen some of the most fiery figures in sports history take the field.
But these people pale individually when compared to the tag team of Rob Dibble and Lou Piniella. Apart, these two men carved out reputations as quite possibly the angriest people to ever appear in The Show. Together, they created what very well may be the most volatile clubhouse Major League Baseball has ever seen.
In this video, we're going to highlight the whirlwind of a team that was the 1990 Cincinnati Reds, dig into the trio of "nasty" relievers that made it all possible, and take a look at what happens when you force two men who probably never should have met into the same dugout for 162 games.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter: @BaseballHSTRN
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BUSINESS INQUIRIES
[e-mail]
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SOURCES
Rob Dibble/Lou Piniella "Thrilla with Piniella" clubhouse fight - ESPN story - KZbin
Archives: The infamous Rob Dibble-Lou Piniella clubhouse fight of 1992 (wlwt.com)
soxmachine.com/white-sox-hist...
thegruelingtruth.com/baseball...
www.redszone.com/forums/showt...
www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-...
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MUSIC
“Never You Mind” - Dan Lebowitz
“Don’t Ya Bite Now” - Dan Lebowitz
“Bro Time” - Nat Keefe & BeatMower
“To the Sun and Back” - TrackTribe
“Falling in Slow Motion” - RKVC
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00​ - 1:10 Intro
1:11 - 2:06 DraftKings
2:07 - 4:45 The Nasty Boys
4:46 - 8:37 Meet Your Fighters
8:38 - 11:18 Ready to Rumble
11:19 - 13:00 The Aftermath
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[@americankulak2294]

The only time in history Marge Schott was seen as a cogent and respected peace making third party in a dispute or controversy.

[@kingdingaling2469]

Tell em Large Marge senchYa ! 👹

[@rogregg29445]

Lmao 🤣 god that woman was awful

[@OH_MY_DOGGG]

@@rogregg29445 I think I can attribute her for my discovery that racism exists in the world. At all. Period.

[@MrGageHarrison]

Did she give a Nazi salute after making peace with them?

[@mconley600]

God what a bunch of horrible people are here … you may not have liked Marge Schott but to us in Cincinnati we loved her to death its funny how all of the outsiders are so judgemental

[@XanderDDS]

Anakin and Count Dooku in the heat of battle, while Marge Palpatine Schott watches with a smile, remarking "Good! Good!"

[@RetroBaseball]

Consistent Baseball Historian uploads bring happiness to my soul.

[@danielblecker3698]

same!!

[@Trev794]

Preach

[@xennial80sxberner]

No joke Rob and Lou's fight got filmed by WLWT where Jerry Springer was still a news anchor in 1992. I bet he covered it on the original broadcast lol

[@patrickgray5633]

Yup I’ve met them both Dibble & Lou man they have tempers thank god Lou wasn’t drinking otherwise that really could have been ugly.

[@diggsfather]

it's insane that this channel isn't huge yet. one of the best in the business without question

[@sak7785]

It’s good but he doesn’t do enough videos for it to be huge. Can’t go weeks, let alone months, without doing a video & expect people to find the channel.

[@kingdingaling2469]

36k is No Slouchy

[@kingdingaling2469]

Tru Dat ​@@sak7785

[@JJCanucks]

Probably because he says things like "the lost 1 to 3"

[@BaseballHistorian]

@@sak7785 yeah ur right. new video next week then.

[@caseymichel1113]

These clubhouse fights happen way more often than people would think lol

[@67marlins]

You're probably right.....I've heard about flare-ups in some NFL locker rooms years after they actually happened.

[@Wallyworld30]

Rob Dibble was a force of nature. He had that windup where he kicked his leg up almost head high and heaved the ball 100MPH. He used to call into the Jim Rome show and he was funny as hell with great voice for Radio. Rob Dibble was MLBs GigaChad.

[@thelastmanonearth2631]

It was the roids bro

Dribble, a one hit wonder. Was too dumb to have a successful career!

[@martyyoung3611]

I was there for the brawl that starts @ 4:58. I was behind home plate and the radar gun was in front of me. When the ball went behind Yelding the gun flashed 101. During the brawl one of the Astros stole Dibble's glove and he never got it back.

[@tomsreviews238]

Sweet Lou had a few cocktails. This entire situation was just hilarious.

[@johnm1008]

Seeing Marge takes me back. I remember going to Reds games and sitting in sponsor boxes a couple times. Every time we had those seats she would walk by at least once a game walking one of her Saint Barnards and smoking a cigarette. I used to have a Reds hat signed by her and Schottzie.

[@sebastianponce9658]

All my respect goes out to Lou Piniella. As a Yankee fan who grew up in the late 70's and 80's I remember the glory and decline in the 80's. Mr. Piniella was a player and manager and experienced both as well.

[@logmanplays5036]

Great vid!!! This era of Reds ball is one of the most interesting for sure

[@crkmt]

Davey Johnson had the best quote about Dibble: "You can't really talk to him. Whatever you say goes in one ear, hits something hard, and bounces back out."

[@mbbartleson]

Just discovered your channel. Every video is an incredible story. You tell it like you were there and everything is expertly edited together. Great work and keep them coming!

[@jmad627]

I was at the game where Dibble hit Tuefil. Tuefil was something like 3 for 4 at the time and Dibble plunked him out of frustration. What I loved was that Tuefil popped Dibble in the mouth.

[@BeefPapa]

And he wasn't a big guy at all. Took some balls charging the mound.

[@jmad627]

@@BeefPapa yeah Dibble hit him square between the shoulder blades, came off the mound and challenged him. Teufil accepted. The other thing about that game was Pete Rose. Every time the crowd got a glimpse of him they started “Pete likes to bet! Pete likes to bet.” Fun times…

[@mara6699]

My brother met Rob at a social function a few months ago. Apparently they talked for like a hour and a half and he was super duper nice. It turns out he was one of my brothers pitching heros growing up and it was like living a dream to chat with a hero AND hes a nice guy.

[@Pighill]

Every time the Reds would play the Nashville Sounds, Rob would be the only player to sign everybody’s memorabilia. He became one of my favorites after that.

[@cardboardempire]

Walt Weiss never batted over .300 how was he a batting leader? George Brett .329 in 1990.

[@MatthewOhioKettering]

I am baffled by that too.

[@rickyhenry4958]

Was wondering the same thing

[@MatthewOhioKettering]

@@rickyhenry4958 Maybe he was thinking of Carney Lansford who won a title in 1981.

[@marzelsimmons8708]

Man I was super young when Lou was coaching the mariners but I still remeber watching thr games with my grandpa and him going crazy on umps lol he a legend fasho

[@alexstone5410]

Great channel. Thanks for the vids.

[@williamhicks7736]

“The THRILLA WITH PINIELLA”! I like that!

[@unclejune2839]

Rob Dibble ate my restaurant once with norm Charlton and they made an huge mess like a few kids

[@polarisnorth]

Lou led the Mariners for a lot of my childhood, and his tantrums were legendary.

[@WhatHappenedtoBaseball]

This isn’t Randy Johnson… But this is also exciting, and now I get to wait with even more anticipation for the Randy video

[@edwardihughes]

I enjoyed the story and the narration. 👍🏽

[@Tommasini9]

Piniella went on to Seattle, and turned the Mariners into a competitive machine the rest of the 90s! I understand Griffey jr even bought Lou a cow (instead of a steak dinner), and even had the cow delivered to his office!!!

[@jaydisqus3353]

I've never heard anyone refer to the 1990 Reds team as a powerhouse. They were huge underdogs in that world series.

[@rogregg29445]

If only my dad would have bet on that sweep lol

[@jaydisqus3353]

@@rogregg29445 Hell, Pete probably did. That was a magical year.

[@rogregg29445]

@@jaydisqus3353 hahaha 🤣 yeah probably. My dad told two of his coworkers that were reds fans they would sweep they thought he was crazy. But it happened lol

[@jaydisqus3353]

@@rogregg29445 I would have told anyone they were crazy. You just didn't beat the bash brothers. The Nasty Boys are undescribable.

[@bradgoodman9137]

As I recall, many Oakland fans were certain the series would last only four games. Not the way it turned out, of course.

[@jodyclaggett786]

I miss Lou. Best manager the Mariners ever had.

[@Gravelgratious]

Scott Servais carries the mantle proudly. He has that catchers personality that Lou has.

[@phunq9087]

I hate to be "that guy" but Dascenzo is pronounced duh-SEN-zo. Great video!

[@everett-tnredsfan]

I think his centerfield throw was after given up the 4th homerun of the game hit by Mark Whiten, I mistakenly said Glenaallen Hill, thanks for the correction. I was 14 then so I may have the wrong Cardinal. Loved Sweet Lou though. Got to love how the divisions were set up then. Of course Cincinnati was in the NL west and the Cleveland Indians were in the AL east. As a kid never got the setup.

[@rogregg29445]

The cardinals and cubs when divisions were originally set up threatened to boycott if they weren’t in the same division. Hence why the reds and Braves were in the west

[@southsider3542]

Mark Whiten was the guy who hit 4 home runs. He also tied the record for most RBIs in a game (12). Coincidentaly, that record was set by another Cardinal, Jim Bottomley in 1924

[@everett-tnredsfan]

@@southsider3542 oh man that's right good call thanks for the correction. Sometimes I try to go off memory instead of googling stuff lol.

[@williamfryman4360]

@@rogregg29445 you left out, they wanted to be in the same division as New York, together. It would’ve made more sense for them to be in the West and the Reds and Braves to be in the East, since Cincinnati and Atlanta are both in the Eastern Time Zone. But the Cubs and Cards wanted to be in the division New York was in, together.

[@BaseballAF]

With a name like Rob Dibble, I'd get mad a lot too.

[@CSDonohue11]

Dibbs!

[@cahg3871]

Try my surname-Goodayle-I’ve bern called everything from Badbeer to Goodtail.It never ends,lol.✌️

[@lazycatchphrase8148]

Seeing the Reds in the NL West was the wildest part of this video, lol. Good stuff.

[@tigercap100]

Great video

[@CalebsCards]

Interesting video, I hadn't heard about this.

[@pullt]

RIP Bob Ley

[@b1646717]

Good stuff

[@teen_laqueefa]

My favorite ball club of my life 90 Reds

[@cahg3871]

Chris Sabo was a machine at 3rd. base.

[@mmsm6370]

Those were the days I had the Dibble windup eckersley side arm...Jim Leyritz stance and The Jose Canseco uppercut swing. Little League was the sheeeit.

[@SaunKrystian]

Marge Schott was a legend... She kept the upper decks $5 so me and friends could afford to see a pro game in 90's

[@teen_laqueefa]

She had her moments, Many more bad than good

[@cherokeeoutlaw2.011]

Except she was a huge racist but yeah money over people seems to be the American way

[@crkmt]

It was the top 5-6 rows of Riverfront. I remember those days. It wasn't a bad seat either.

[@FuttBuckerson]

@@cherokeeoutlaw2.011 if you think that's exclusively American, you're one sheltered individual. Americans always think their problems or traits are specific to them.

[@67marlins]

@@cherokeeoutlaw2.011 Give us some examples of her, 'racist' actions. Can you?

[@Ebosully456]

Well done

[@caseymichel1113]

Dude how in the world does this channel have less that 40k subs?? It’s a god damn travesty

[@michaelvonahnen3050]

Lou Pinella was such a great Yankee !! Unbelievable,he had more to do with that win in Boston 10/2/78 than anyone.

[@wbsouthton]

Dibble was one of baseball’s greatest entertainers ever to play!

[@tordcountry]

I don't know if this possible but I'd love an analysis if barry bonds wouldve hit more home runs in 2001 if he played in a neutral ball park and not oracle park

[@J.C...]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 OH H3LL NAW. That POS doesn't deserve to have anything done about him. His name should be erased from MLB history like the NCAA did to Reggie Bush 🤣

[@J.C...]

If anything, someone should do a vid speculating about how many HR's he wouldn't have hit if he wasn't juiced up 🤣 😉

[@catbelugagaming584]

37 homers at home, 36 on the road

[@Dstigler12]

Great video, the nasty boys were awesome! Dibble was a lunatic! Fun fact, 4:25 Todd Benzinger (who caught the last out against The A's) is my uncle!

[@maximumeffort2729]

A pop up from carney lansford.

[@robertilardi6290]

1991 The Braves started a 14 year run of division titles. They got a lot of people fired.

[@TheNotoriousJP]

Tim Belcher was the one who said the line about getting the camera out or he'd break it.

[@lennyjohnson9331]

I grew up with Billy Hatcher and he fulfilled my dream of 1day playing for the reds & going to the world series and sweeping the other team ! , Billy kept trying to get me to join him in the weight room after school ended n Williams,az but I didn't & ended up blowing out my rotator cuff , &most likely wouldn't have if I would have worked out ? Billy should have been considered a all American athlete , in high school at 5'8 could dunk a basketball , & the only person that could on kick offs could kick the ball thru the goal post , the high school that yr avg beating the other teams n basketball (4-5guys were black) by around 60pts , 1time beat another school 112-24 , except this pistal Pete type white boy 6'10 who avg 59.0 out of the 64.5 pts per game antelope high team avg score was. Billy could've been another Barry Sanders if he would've played football my favorite team as always been the reds , so don't even get me started about them this yr , the only thing this yr is responding to these videos & hiding my teams logo until next yr hopefully

[@teen_laqueefa]

One of my favorite Reds of all time

[@tonyvincent9753]

I heard that Marge Schott was considered for the the lead role in “Throw Mama From the Train”.

[@Mjones8383]

WD40 is a petroleum based oil, not grease. For future reference

[@kingdingaling2469]

Yeaaaa ! Good Ol Days! 1990 REDS World Series Champs & Runnin Rebels National Champion’s !! 10yo hasn’t seen any of His favorite Teams in MLB , NFL , NBA , NCAA nor NHL Win Champs since ! Golden Knights have only existed since 2017 , but did Make SC Finals in 1st ever season. Lions Vs Raiders or Bills is coming Soon. ☝️

[@barontaylor7139]

Lou was the manager in Seattle from 1993 to 2002

[@loucaruso3971]

It"s A Shame ,Pinellas Got The Yankee"s Playing Better Baseball, The Ol Man Gave Him His Start !!!!, The Boss Had A Big Part In Finally Getting The Wild Card"s, Explained More $$$$ Money For Baseball, & N.B.A, & N.F.L, Had A Number Of Team"s In Playoff"s !!!.. Lou Got Cincy Job, Great Team & Ran With It, The A"s Had Their Chance To Win 3 World Series, Finally Getting Earth Quake Series, & 1990, Red"s Swept Them & Pinellas Was Off, & A"s Basically Done With Their Yrs Run !!!, Great Manager With Seattle, Just Could"nt Get It Done & Saying Some Thing"s Uncalled For,...I Luved Lou, As Player With Yankees & At Least Got His Championship.....

[@xandercrews4729]

I was only 4, but I remember this incident

[@jeffreymodzelewski1865]

The thrilla with Pinella! Lol 😆

[@shanes.1724]

That wasn’t Lou that yelled “Get the fucking camera out of here!” That was Tim Belcher

[@newmanoutdoors1564]

I remember when this happened .

[@brianthomas2434]

I seem to remember the 1955 Dodgers went wire to wire as well.

[@joshuapatrick682]

Dibble is the physical personification of performance enhancing drugs....

[@RoundingThird]

The real what if about the early 90s Reds is where would baseball be if it had kept it's finances in check? If it hadn't tripled or more the price of everything so the owners and players got richer at the fans expense while half the teams in MLB became a farm team for the rest.

[@qfmarsh64]

Respect the silent C in Doug Dascenzo.

[@mjacton]

Nitpick: The c in Dascenzo is silent.

[@person1192]

Randy Myers tased Piniella once

[@tubuskan4348]

Man I love rob, wish his career lasted longer

[@67marlins]

Everyone else hates him and says, 'good riddance'.

[@mattheffner6831]

Mrs. Schott solved it with some scotch and cigarettes

[@TheTEN24]

The clip of him intentionally hitting the runner after a bunt is hilarious. Shocker that he was a trouble maker cool story

[@mmsm6370]

Braves had Glavine, Maddox, and Smoltz in 1992 I believe

[@markprice5651]

Muddux didnt get to the Braves until 1993

[@paulcarlson754]

I’m pretty sure Boggs won the a l batting title in 90, it definitely wasn’t Walt Weiss

[@AndThatsBaseball]

Randy Johnson would beat them both in a fight

[@TWS-pd5dc]

Dibble was a punk, period. He drilled Tim Teufel like a punk and almost got a good right cross to the jaw, unfortunately Teufel missed. Later in his career Dibble joined a bench clearing brawl but took on the wrong guy. Ed Ott, former Pittsburgh catcher and an all state wrestling champ in PA was later a coach for the Astros I believe. In that brawl Ott got Dibble in a choke hold and had him turning purple until Ott took mercy on him and let go. Dibble is lucky Ott didn't put him in the hospital. I personally would have been fine with that. Bullies always eventually meet their match. Dibble met his in Ed Ott and got what he deserved.

[@PrimarySweeper13]

The Dibble

[@iamhungey12345]

It's a nasty situation.

[@ryanclark3935]

Batting leader Walt Weiss? Did I hear that right?

[@gothard5]

charlton sounds like carl not charles

[@terrenceliburd8655]

Sweet Lou would fight "anybody".

[@sweettoof9002]

Lou Pinella makes the all time Red Ass list.

[@Funkyent]

Marge Schott lol

[@musicbelongs2theworld]

Loouuu!!!

[@blainemonaco2092]

Lou was the best thing that happened to the Seattle Mariners……

[@susanmenegus5242]

Dibble was good . And I liked that old reds team 1990 I still root for Cincinnati. It sucks they couldn't have held that team together and got better every year they might have one a world series . 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@coolhandcurtj7055]

Lou won with Pete's team.

[@bobnewfart7630]

Letting Lou, go was the stupidest thing this club ever did.

[@lespaul1968]

Life long reds fan, born in 68. Piniella was a crap manager that we won with in spite of Lou.

[@pullt]

An opening day win put them in 1st? Incisive content....

[@samsquanch1234]

Showing they stayed in first from day one. Pay attention kid

[@pullt]

​@@samsquanch1234 Stating the obvious that a 1-0 start put them in first place is superfluous, Kid. Thirteen teams started 1-0 that year, Kid . Could simply state they went wire to wire without adding that comment or graphic of the standings, Kid.

[@bloodwrage]

Based Grandma

[@c.j.garcia8075]

Batting leader Walt Weiss? Huh?

[@ThomasTrussell]

The Braves in the NL West. Divisions that didn't make sense

[@williamfryman4360]

Riverfront Stadium ❤. If all cookie cutter concrete donut stadiums were a disgrace, Riverfront was the only one even close to nice.

[@markprice5651]

the 1990 Reds were not a "power house"...that's comical

[@milan.2412]

Best Reds team ever.

[@ooammo632]

Nobody woulda expected what? Like you said it wasnt even an actual fight. So WhyTF are you bringing it up 30 years later?

[@petersanmiguel1164]

This betting is getting out of control!

[@timelessbaseball6126]

I love the thumbnail artwork. Is it possible to use it in videos at all?

[@rafaelramirez1507]

But .... Fisk kicked his ass (Piniella's)

[@jjaakk7214]

Dibble had a radio show on ESPN in the Hartford broadcast area and he is nearly unbearable.

[@giantjulez9632]

Nearly?

[@Shinobi33]

I think I'd rather have a fiery part time psycho manager versus a lifeless zombie for a manager. Yea Don Mattingly I'm talking to you

[@rogregg29445]

At least Lou would be honest about constantly Hitting Acuña

[@user-bz9sj8mh5d]

Losing the stache is what did in Donny Baseball.

[@yoitssami4683]

Damn I’m early😭

[@sirissac234]

How did this actually change baseball in Cincinnati FOREVER though? I don't think that was proven by this video at all. What actual long-lasting changes took place because of this fight?? Going solely by your own video it seems like the fight was a footnote to a disappointing season. Not the pivotal moment for an entire team for that era or even "FOREVER".

[@jeremybond9680]

You claim Pinella won championships with Yanks in 77 and 78 with greats like Reggie and Munson and Winfield well Winfielld signed as a free agent to join NY in 81

[@TracksideViews]

Top of the NL West at 1-0 lol

[@ronsoaper3737]

You lost me at 1-3 nail bitter --Only green horns put the losing run total first--I can see why you only have 35 thousand subscribers

[@samsquanch1234]

Who the hell says green horns anymore

[@quietprofessional3608]

The absolute worst high ten I’ve ever witnessed in 45 years. 4:23