Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe reports that the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays were involved in a bench-clearing incident in their spring training game today. The Red Sox also had a bench-clearing incident in yesterday's game. In today's game, Sox reliever Julian Tavarez threw and landed a punch at Devil Rays outfielder Joey Gathright after Gathright slid into home plate attempting to take out Tavarez, who was covering. Players from both dugouts then rushed the field, with Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon and Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson pulling Gathright up from the ground. Devil Rays outfielder Carl Crawford then threatened players in the Red Sox dugout, although the parties were restrained by that point. The tensions apparently started in the fifth inning when Red Sox first baseman Hee-Seop Choi was plunked by a Wayne Franklin pitch and both sides were warned.Although the Red Sox and Devil Rays have a history of bench-clearing incidents, a spring training fight shows incredibly poor judgment by the players involved. Obviously, these games don't count and are played merely to help the players prepare for the regular season, and yet now Tavarez and perhaps others will be suspended for regular season games. One could argue that any brawl is idiotic given the likely sanction, and that it reflects poor sportsmanship, but depriving your team of your services due to a spring training fight seems worse. Really, what are you possibly fighting for? The Grapefruit Cup? And I wonder: should players who fight in spring training games face harsher penalties by Major League Baseball, given the extra-stupidity of their decision? Obviously, the penalties reflect collective-bargained parameters, but maybe the parameter needs to be widened for nonsensical spring training fist-a-cuffs.