Former fan favorite Dodgers reliever got fight he wanted, but not where fans expected

Former Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly, who will always be best remembered for his benches-clearing antics involving Carlos Correa and the Astros in 2020, has been out of a major league job so far this season. After spending most of the year either injured or underperforming and then missing the postseason because of injury, the Dodgers let him walk in free agency, and no one's offered him a new contract yet.

But Kelly's finding other ways to occupy his time in semi-retirement. He coaches his son's 9U baseball team, and on an appearance on Baseball Isn't Boring, he recounted an incident with the sibling of the opposing team's manager wherein he literally got his hat flicked off his head and then got punched in the face.

Sorry, we're not laughing. OK, actually maybe we are a little bit.

Kelly was always a hothead who seemed to be itching for a good brawl — and not just with Correa and the Astros. He'll probably never get a highlight reel moment like Tim Anderson getting decked by José Ramírez or Bryce Harper failing to lob a helmet at Hunter Strickland, but at least he gets ... being punched by an opposing manager at a youth game?

Former Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly said he got punched in the face at son's youth game

The way that Kelly explained the incident was kind of hilarious in itself, as he sounded like a major league manager breaking down a postseason win while talking about nine-year-olds in a youth championship game, dropping first names like listeners were supposed to know who they were. He even threw some shade at the opposing manager, saying, "[The team is] talented, but not coached very well. [...] Little do you know, we steamrolled them, again." Okay, guy.

He explained that an opposing manager took exception to Kelly calling out which pitches his pitcher should throw from the dugout instead of putting down signs. She asked, "Are you afraid you're gonna lose to assault?" and then punched him in the head. Still not laughing. Nope, definitely not.

Kelly said that he was pressing charges against his assailant — he's already got the paperwork filled out and everything.

So while he never got to give Correa or the Astros proper payback for stealing the ALDS from Kelly's 2017 Red Sox, it's nice to know that some things never change. Kelly will continue to be a polarizing and kind of aggravating figure no matter where he goes.