Report: Lawyers almost brawled during Alex Rodriguez's MLB hearing

A lawyer representing Alex Rodriguez reportedly "bull-rushed" another lawyer. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

An attorney representing Alex Rodriguez in his Major League Baseball appeal hearing had to be physically restrained from brawling with an opposing attorney two weeks ago, according to the New York Daily News.

Attorney Joe Tacopina reportedly was involved in a confrontation with Julio Ayala, a Miami attorney representing Biogenesis founder and chief MLB witness Anthony Bosch.

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In the proceedings, Tacopina attacked the authenticity of documents and electronic communications tied to Biogenesis and its distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to more than a dozen MLB players including Rodriguez. The attorney also questioned Bosch's credibility, particularly his testimony linking Rodriguez to Biogenesis.

Here's the source's account via the Daily News:

The sources told the Daily News that Tacopina — who was frustrated that Bosch’s testimony had dominated the first three days of the hearing — asked another MLB attorney how long he planned on having baseball’s most important witness on the stand during the break in the testimony on Oct. 2. Ayala, a former high school football player, stood his ground, but other attorneys restrained Tacopina before any punches were thrown. Eventually, the two men calmed down and the hearing resumed after the break.

The attorney, the sources said, told Tacopina that Bosch’s testimony would take several more hours and might spill over to the next day. “Well, I guess we have all of October, and by then Mr. Bosch will be in jail,” Tacopina replied, referring to the fact that Bosch and his now-defunct clinic are being investigated by Florida state authorities and federal law-enforcement officials from the Southern District of Florida.

“If he is, he is not going alone,” Ayala fired back, implying that if Bosch goes to prison, he is taking Rodriguez with him.

Tacopina, a former hockey player who holds the Skidmore College record for most penalty minutes in a season, then made a derogatory statement about Ayala and “his lying wife,” Susy Ribero-Ayala, another attorney representing Bosch, angering Julio Ayala. Tacopina then “bull-rushed” Ayala, who went toe-to-toe with Tacopina, in the words of one source.