Posted on 10/25/2005 8:42:45 AM PDT by Jalapeno
We met MANY Red Sox fans before/during/after each game - many of them were "Blohards" - who dared not wear Red Sox gear (I didn't the first time I went to a BOS/NYY game). So there were even more Red Sox fans there than they realized, at least at the games we attended... ;-D
But the World Series seats are costing $500 and up. Only the rich will be attending.
And just how do you suppose Yankee fans are treated at Fenway?
(And I couldn't care less about the Yankees.)
Frankly, I'm surprised the guy didn't pull back a bloody stump!
I've been to Fenway many times, but only to one NYY vs BOS game (tickets are nearly impossible to get for these games at Fenway). At that particular game (7-17-05) I observed nothing unusual with the exception of a couple of "police actions" going on out in the bleachers - some brawlers being hauled out.
With my Red Sox fan in Yankee Stadium experience, I was on the lookout to see if any trouble would occur that day. I was surprised to see many Red Sox/Yankee couples there and groups of friends wearing Yankees/Red Sox jerseys. I was amazed at how calm everyone was considering the "stories" I've heard in the past about NYY/BOS games.
The comment I posted about Yankee Stadium were just my experiences there during five games over two years. If anyone else has stories of Fenway or Yankee Stadium during BOS/NYY games, negative or positive, I urge them to post them here.
As a Red Sox fan (wearing a Red Sox shirt and/or hat) in Yankee Stadium I expect friendly ribbing, or even fans to get in my face about how "the Red Sox suck", etc. But being called vulgar names with the accompanying gestures is is a bit over the line, IMHO...
What's a couple hundred more for some beer?
"Guillen's a phoney. He'll kick anyone's butt who gets in the way of his fun."
Hey King. Get down off your high horse.
...Today, however, that beer and baseball marriage seems to be somewhat rocky, bolstered in Chicago when some nitwit grabbed the hat from LA Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter back in 2000 in Wrigley Field. Eighteen Dodgers went into the stands looking for revenge before security woke up and brought back some order. Not to be outdone by this incident on the Windy City North Side, a father-son team of local hillbillies attacked Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa in 2002 at new U.S. Cellular Field (nee, Comiskey Park), followed by the attack on umpire Laz Diaz by a tatooed, rougher looking version of Tommy Lee, by the drunken and self-professed White Sox fan.
But don’t think that fan violence at ball games is a contemporary affair. Back in 1986, a Bowie knife with a 5-inch blade was tossed at California Angels rookie Wally Joyner by a “fan.” The butt of the knife hit Joyner and luckily did no harm. There was no indication that alcohol played a role in this episode but in 1974, the Clevland Indians decided to hold a 10-cents-a-beer night! After the fans took full advantage of the cheap beer (figured later at around 60,000 beers sold), they decided to storm the field in the ninth inning. While umpires, coaches, and players slugged it out with roving gangs of drunks on the field, the umpires called the game in favor of the visiting Texas Rangers with a 9-0 forfeit. Until that decision was made, the game was tied 5 to 5.
So what’s Major League Baseball’s reaction been to all of this? At U.S. Cellular Field, fans can still purchase four beers at the seventh inning beer sales cut-off point with assurances of Sox spokesman Scott Reifert that all vendors at the park have been trained to detect drunken fans who aren't to be sold another drink. Wink, wink. Question Scottie. Will that detection take place before or after your vendors start unloading four-drink purchases in the bottom of the seventh?
Wrigley also has a beer sales cut-off point. Last I heard, Fenway has a two beer purchase limit. Yankee Stadium bans beer in certain sections of seating, all of this leading to the possibility that sales of alcohol might one day be banned at all baseball stadiums.
But nah. Ain't gonna happen, especially when Labatt once owned the Blue Jays, Coors owns the naming rights to Coors Field, the Budweiser Clysdales still run around Busch Stadium, the Milwaukee "Brewers" play in Miller Park and Budweiser is the "official beer" of Major League Baseball. Add to this, the opinion by Kevin Hallinan, MLB's senior vice president for security and facilities, who has stated that any proposed banning of beer sales at ballparks would be "inconceivable."
The simple fact is that beer generates a stream of cash that would cripple Major League Baseball tomorrow if that flow was cut-off. Now don’t get me wrong. I write about beer for a living, go to beer tastings at least once a week, and have woken up on more than one occasion with a headache that only a beer and tomato juice cocktail could cure. I’m not a neo-prohibitionist. But it's a terrible thing to say, but it will probably take a death of a baseball player by some moron with a weapon running on to the field or a deadly assault on an innocent fan in the stands before the MLB comes to terms with a problem that Chris Von der Ache never saw coming.
I don't think we should make blanket negative statements when confronting the heinous actions of a single fan... unless of course we're talking about PhillyFan.
I fully agree.
I know it happens at Yankee Stadium...but I've been told the same happens at Fenway. (Perhaps less so because it's tougher for opposing fans to get tickets.)
(As I said I have no interest in either club.)
I wouldn't be surprised if the crowd in Houston have a "welcome" prepared for the sox too. I heard on the radio this morning that the astros wanted to close the stadium dome tonight to make the noise louder. A Texan once told me that "Texans cheat". The player families should not have been harrassed, and it was despicable behavior. But I'll hang on to my sense of outrage for now.
A sad event! Fans need to GROW UP!
Fans should police their own home parks. If someone on your side is out of line, you should do something about it.
Bud Selig is not going to let Houston close the dome. He said if the weather is not inclement, then the dome should stay open.
Here's a tip for this hero, if you want to slap a woman, don't pick the wife of a professional athlete who makes his living swinging a wooden bat.
When the home team cannot hold a 4 run lead In their own park and the opposing team makes 3 errors and STILL wins, you have to question the heart of the Astro's.
Agreed, but...remember...the Astros have done this all season. They have never made it easy on themselves...and have always played from behind...in one form or another.
Remember 15-30? Granted, they simply didnt get it done last night...in a big way, CHISOX won fair...but...there may be enough magic left in the season to run the table.
Remember BOSOX vs NYY in the ALCS last year? It's possible.
Ahhhhh, man I hope that tylenol kicks in soon.
Indeed I do remember the RS-NYY ALCS series. I am a NYY fan and have been for more then 50 years. I freely admit their losing in that series represented the biggest choke in the history of sports, any sport. Making it even worse for a NYY fan is that the RS, whose entire history is one of choking, was the team that pulled off the miracle of the century, either last or this, take your pick.
But can this happen 2 years in a row? Well, if you had asked me last year to offer odds on a bet the RS would take the NYY after being down 3-0, I would probably be in the poor house at this time. After witnessing that comeback I will never say never again.
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