Former Chicago Cubs Reliever Issues Statement on Social Media on Anniversary of Major Brawl

Thursday was the 22-year anniversary of Kyle Farnsworth duking it out with the Cincinnati Reds, something that the former pitcher is apparently still quite proud of.

Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth (25) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 3-2 in 2013. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Former Chicago Cubs reliever Kyle Farnsworth is apparently still quite proud of the brawl he got into 22 years ago Thursday.

When @DKSportsbook posted an anniversary video of Farnsworth throwing punches at former Reds' pitcher Paul Wilson, he simply wrote "Never gets old!" with a muscle emoji on "X."

Never gets old! 💪🏻 https://t.co/4ARfa8moYG

— Kyle Farnsworth (@24_7Farnsworth) June 19, 2025

If you watch the clip, Wilson is trying to bunt. Farnsworth throws the ball up-and-in, but it doesn't hit Wilson. Evidently, Wilson is unhappy about having a ball thrown near him while he's trying to give himself up. It's unclear if Farnsworth threw at Wilson, was just trying to make it tougher to bunt, or just lost the grip, but he wasn't taking any grief from Wilson, that's for sure.

Now 49, Farnsworth spent 16 years in the big leagues with the Cubs, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates. An elite flamethrower, he went 43-66 lifetime with a 4.26 ERA. He had 57 saves, including 25 in 2011 for the Rays.

As for Wilson, he spent seven years in the big leagues with the Mets, Rays and Reds, going 40-58 with a 4.86 ERA. He won a career-high 11 games in 2004 and made 170 career starts.

The Farnsworth brawl is one of the more epic brawls we can remember, but it's maybe not quite as good as this one between Armando Benitez and all of the New York Yankees.

The Yankees literally traded for Armando Benitez but please tell me more about how any “real Yankee fan” wouldn’t want a 27-year-old superstar shortstop pic.twitter.com/G3TNKFjPJX

— Stanzo (@ncostanzo24) October 8, 2021

Now, that's certainly some old fashioned hardball.

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