Posted on 05/15/2005 6:04:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Coliseum fan who threw a cup of beer at Yankees slugger Jason Giambi will face multiple criminal charges, officials said Sunday.
Eric Anduri of Lafayette, Calif., spent Saturday night in jail after pelting Giambi with the beer when the former Oakland Athletics star returned to the New York dugout after flying out in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 15-6 win.
Anduri, whose age wasn't available, was arrested and charged with battery, public intoxication and throwing objects on the field, said David Rinetti, the A's vice president of stadium operations. A spokesman for the Oakland Police Department would not confirm the charges Sunday.
Giambi, the longtime A's slugger who won the 2000 AL Most Valuable Player award while playing for Oakland, has been booed loudly at the Coliseum ever since he left Oakland in December 2001 to sign a seven-year contract with the Yankees.
He handled the situation with his usual good nature, praising the quick actions of Coliseum security and declining to pursue any additional charges against the fan.
"It's over. There's nothing to talk about," Giambi said before the series finale Sunday.
The Yankees expressed concern for the latest strange incident involving overzealous fans in Oakland, and they were particularly dismayed to see Giambi treated that way in his former home.
"He's had so many good years here, you'd think people would remember that," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "But when a fan tries to become part of the game, it becomes a dangerous situation, and we're concerned about it."
Oakland fans were up to even more shenanigans on Sunday in the series finale. Moments after Giambi drew a walk in the fourth inning, two men leaped from the stands along the left-field line and engaged security personnel in a protracted chase across the field.
One of the fans made it all the way across the outfield and attempted to escape over the right-field wall, but A's outfielder Eric Byrnes and a security guard pulled him down. The second fan stood on the mound and then headed to center field, where several guards finally cornered him — though they nearly needed Byrnes' help as well.
Such incidents seem to happen with alarming frequency at the Coliseum, though high-profile altercations also have occurred in Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities in recent years.
In 2003, an Oakland fan was charged with assault after throwing a cell phone from the second deck of the Coliseum, hitting Texas Rangers outfielder Carl Everett in the back of the head.
Last September, three Texas pitchers became involved in a shouting match with fans near the Rangers' bullpen — and reliever Frank Francisco threw a metal chair into the stands, breaking the nose of Jennifer Bueno, whose husband had spent the night heckling the Rangers.
Francisco was arrested the next morning, and he is scheduled to stand trial on a charge of misdemeanor assault next month. Bueno and another fan have filed lawsuits against the Rangers, the players and the Coliseum's security company.
well they do call A's fans (along with Giants fans sometimes) The Battery Chuckers by the Bay....
Well, they have to do something when the Raiders aren't playing.
Oh yeah! Oakland fans are the best tossing objects. ;-)
Fans who toss batteries and such should be staked out on the pitcher's mound, honey poured all over them and fire ants dumped on 'em... or I think the return of stocks in public places and the tossing of rotten veggies and fruit at them should be considered.
It's no more barbaric a punishment than the acts some of these nutjobs try to get away with.
"It's over. There's nothing to talk about," Giambi said before the series finale Sunday.
The guy has class, unlike the battery-chuckers-by-the-bay...
Then again, would he have whined-to-no-end if the fan got off with a slap on the wrist? It would have made giambi look like less of a victim - and that's what publicity is all about these days.
I agree.
It would be hard to imagine the amount of abuse he has taken personally with the scandals that have plagued pro sports of late.
Giambi said that BEFORE the idiot that threw the beer at him got charged...
To Giambi, it was over right after it happened...
Criminal charges for throwing a beer?
For cryin' out loud! Just let Giambi beat the shiz out of him and call it even.
The pussification of America is nearly complete.
Oh, definitely honey and fire ants, rather than stocks and rotten food.
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