Zap Yo Dumbass! - Philadelphia fans already have a bad reputation for being some of the harshest fans in sports for numerous reasons. Need an example? How about throwing snow balls at Santa Clause or batteries at once upon a time draftee of the Philadelphia Phillies -- J.D. Drew. And if those don't take the cake, maybe booing while an injured Michael Irvin is being escorted off the field in a stretcher will. However, those are just a handful of reasons why the City of Brotherly Love is the home of those at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to sports. So we know they're among the most cruelest of fans, but can they be the dumbest too? After their most recent incident, the Philly faithful are putting up a pretty debatable fight in that category as well.
In the eighth inning of a Phillies-Cardinals game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, a 17-year old fan decided it would be fun to hop the fence and prance around the outfield. He even called his father and asked for permission prior to doing the unthinkable. His dad's answer -- "I don't think you should son, it's not the best of ideas." With that being said, the young man did it anyway. After outrunning the much older and out of shape security guards that were on duty, a Philadelphia police officer took action by firing a tazer at the 17-year old boy. After falling to the ground and being placed in handcuffs, the young fan was escorted off the field and taken into custody. Many including myself think the whole use of a tazer thing was a little much, considering the kid posed little to no threat. But then again how was security supposed to know that?
This isn't the first time a fan ran onto the field and it definitely won't be the last. As a matter of fact, one night after the incident, another Phillie fan decided to run onto the field in the ninth inning. Luckily for him, it didn't end in the same fashion as he was apprehended without the use of a tazer or any other weapon for that matter. But instead of oo's and ahh's the tazer incident attracted amongst the fans the night before, the Philly faithful began booing with the chants of "Tazer!" With Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels on the mound and a 1-0 lead at hand, Hamels seemed to have been bothered by the 10-minute delay the fan had caused as the lefty gave up the lead and his shut-out was soon diminished five pitches later. The Phillies would eventually win the game 2-1 however, thanks to a walk-off home run off the bat of catcher Carlos Ruiz.
At a Chicago White Sox game against the visiting Kansas City Royals in 2002, a 34-year old man and his 15-year old son ran onto the field and attacked the first base coach of the Royals. The 54-year old Tom Gamboa escaped with only minor cuts and bruises thanks to the Kansas City players who came to his aid shortly after he was slammed to the ground. Thankfully only punches were thrown as the scene could have ended much uglier as a folded up pocket knife was found on the ground by White Sox outfielder Aaron Rowand. Both fans were under arrest and still face charges to this day. With that incident in mind, there's no telling who's in danger when an intruder reaches the field.
If you ask me, I'd say they need to get younger and more healthier security guards to avoid situations like these. If it wasn't for the tazer, they'd still be chasing after him. The funniest thing about of all this, is the kid's response to his father, "But dad, it would be a once in a lifetime experience." And unless he plans on doing something equally as stupid like being banned from baseball games in your home town or getting tazed, it'll be just what he had in mind...A once in a lifetime experience. The Phillies have since released a statement saying that they're adjusting their security approach for the future.
After hours of pondering, the only thing I could come up with is maybe these fans got caught up in the New Era commercials and thought just because they were wearing what the pros wear that they could be one for a day?
