Even heightened security can't stop baseball's latest black eye
Any player who currently plays in the American League, or any player who has passed through the AL, will tell you that Oakland is one of the roughest places to play.
Most will tell you that, in terms of abusive fans and vile language, it is the worst place to play.
Surprised? Maybe you figured New York. Or Boston.
Nope.
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| A woman gets treated after being struck by a chair thrown by the Rangers' Frank Francisco.(AP) |
That said, there is still absolutely no excuse for Francisco going ballistic Monday night and throwing a chair into the stands at a heckler as if he was Bobby Knight on steroids.
And now Francisco has been arrested and charged with battery, Texas and major league baseball are in serious damage control mode and Commissioner Bud Selig has dispatched lieutenant Sandy Alderson and vice-president of security Kevin Hallinan to Oakland to investigate.
Selig issued a statement late Tuesday in which he said he is "very concerned" over the incident and apologized to the fan who was injured. The chair hit two fans, and an unidentified woman suffered a broken nose and was bloodied in the attack.
(Don't look for that anywhere in baseball's 2005 marketing campaign. "Flying chairs ... catch them" or "I love this chair"? Uh, nah.)
There now have been two terribly ugly bullpen incidents in which charges have been filed within an 11-month period -- the one in Fenway Park during last fall's emotional AL Championship Series and the one in Oakland on Monday night.
And it wasn't too long ago that some members of the Los Angeles Dodgers stormed the stands at Wrigley Field when a fan reached out and swiped Chad Kreuter's cap.
In a perfect world, players would be strong enough to tune the fans out.
