In the Spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine.

A bit of a legend has developed around the game which may not be entirely accurate. It goes like this: The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.

Another version of the story is much simpler and more probable: A fan lit a cigar in the right field bleachers and dropped the match through a crack, it caught fire and strong winds pushed the fire through the park.

However it started it quickly got out of control. So it is with anger. Who knows why it started. A heated word. A misunderstanding.  Anger, my brothers and sisters, is destructive. It poisons relationships. It often brings violence. It is not something that be contained.