Watch: Wladimir Balentien punches coach in Japanese League brawl

The first on-field brouhaha of the 2017 baseball season comes to us from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball - and boy was it a dandy.

Wladimir Balentien, the former big-league slugger who starred for the Netherlands in this year's World Baseball Classic, found himself at the center of the action in Tuesday's brawl between his Yakult Swallows and the Hanshin Tigers. Balentien, now a record-setting star in Japan, appeared to punch Hanshin coach Akihiro Yano during the melee around home plate. As Balentien - who also ignited a bench-clearing episode in the WBC - appeared to assume a fighting position, Yano flew into a rage and began to chase after Balentien, escalating the proceedings tenfold; it appeared the coach may have tried to jump-kick Balentien inside the pile.

Both Yano and Balentien were eventually restrained and ejected.

The whole brawl started after Hanshin pitcher Shintaro Fujinami beaned Yakult's Kazuhiro Hatakeyama with a high-and-tight pitch near his face, leading to an exchange of pleasantries, emptying dugouts, and the ensuing scrum.

Yakult managed to withstand Balentien's ejection and held on to defeat Hanshin 3-1.