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TODAY: Wednesday, May 17 | |||||
Players defend Dodgers for going into stands | |||||
Cliff Floyd isn't worried about a fan just grabbing a hat. He
fears for his life.
"I think about someone not liking me, walking into the game,
standing up in the stands and shooting," the Florida outfielder
said Wednesday. "It can happen, right? You never know."
A day after the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen went into the stands
and brawled with fans at Wrigley Field, player safety was the focus
in major league clubhouses.
"There's not enough security at games. There are situations
that could be controlled but until a major incident happens nobody
cares," Cleveland outfielder David Justice said. "I hope I'm
retired when a fan actually goes to the limit. But that's what
everybody is waiting for. ... The day is coming when something is
going to happen tragic on that baseball field. I can see it coming.
It's going to happen."
Sandy Alderson of the commissioner's office said players who
went into the stands are likely to be disciplined. The brawl began
when a fan reached into the bullpen and grabbed the cap of Dodgers
catcher Chad Kreuter.
"If anybody touches anybody they have the right to defend
themselves even if that means going into the stands," Toronto
pitcher David Wells said. "He could be superstitious and that's
the only hat he wears, so there is grounds for that as well. He had
every right to do what he did. He shouldn't be fined or
suspended."
Even though Alderson said there is no situation where players
would be justified for going into the stands, players generally
backed the Dodgers.
"To be honest, I could see myself getting into it with someone
if they wanted to hit me," Atlanta outfielder Brian Jordan said.
"If a fan decides to be stupid and is trying to injure or hurt me,
I'm going to react."
Wells thinks the first few rows should be kept free from
spectators as a barrier, as some European soccer teams do.
"The players need to be isolated from the fans, and you have to
have a canopy over them, and you need security," Florida manager
John Boles said. "If you don't have that, you'd better cut back on
the alcohol."
Cincinnati reliever Scott Sullivan said most of the fans by the
Wrigley Field visitors' bullpen are the same every game, and the
players get to know them a little bit.
"When we go to Wrigley, most of the people around us are pretty
familiar faces. Most of the time they joke around with us," he
said. "People definitely have been getting more vocal using
profanity, which is uncalled for. We're talking about bullpens
across the league. This is my fourth year and there's been a
progression. We're targets, no question about it. We're out in the
open."
Detroit reliever Todd Jones said a sign of baseball's
seriousness with fan abuse will be how much protection Atlanta
reliever John Rocker gets when the Braves returns to Shea Stadium
next month.
"What they better do is if anything happens, it's going to have
to be an instant forfeit," he said.
Without proper security, many players say they'll respond to
fans.
"They're coming at me with intent to hurt me, I'm going to get
after them," Toronto closer Billy Koch said. "You have to defend
yourself. You can't just say, 'Well this guy is 5-8 and 155 pounds
and you're 6-3, 210.' If he comes into my house, onto my field and
attacks me, I'm going to defend myself." |