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Beast Rivalry in Baseball

G-Fafif Apr 01 2011 04:31 PM

Mets-Marlins may be intense, but Dodgers-Giants appears a wee bit more insane. Los Angeles police are looking for two men who beat and critically injured a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the opening day game. The victim is a 41-year-old man from the San Francisco Bay Area, according to Los Angeles Police Department Det. P.J. Morris. The man is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital, police said. Earlier Friday, LAPD Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg said the injury was not life-threatening. Morris said that the man and two friends were walking to their car after Thursday night's season opener, won by the Dodgers, 2-1. All were wearing Giants apparel. Two men, wearing Dodgers gear, followed them and words were exchanged. The victim was hit in the head, Morris said, and fell to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement. He was then kicked several times in the torso and head. Morris said the suspects fled the scene. Police looked at video footage, but said it was inconclusive. Interviews with several witnesses have taken place. Det. Larry Burcher asked anybody who may have filmed the beating with their cell phones or video cameras to come forward. "We're very confident there were witnesses, it happened immediately following the game when everybody was coming out," Burcher said. "It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans," the Dodgers said in a statement. "We're committed to having the most fan and family friendly environment in baseball and will continue to make that a top priority. We are cooperating fully with authorities during their investigation and we wish this fan a speedy recovery." The stadium has been plagued by opening day violence in the past. In April 2009, a man stabbed his friend in the stadium parking lot after the home opener, in which the Dodgers beat the Giants 11-1. Arthur Alvarez was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Alvarez, who contended that he was knocked to the ground and acted in self-defense, was later acquitted by a jury. The important thing here is lip service and good PR.

MFS62 Apr 01 2011 08:32 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Nothing compared to what used to happen when those teams both played in New York. Gimmie a break! There were no (reported) weapons involved. Later

Edgy DC Apr 02 2011 10:42 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Not really worth making such a joke. And yeah, a little remorse that a fan wearing your colors put a fan of the visiting team in critical condition would be nice. I think the Mets should host "Take a Phillie Phan to Dinner Night." I'm serious, I think.

G-Fafif Apr 04 2011 06:35 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Dodger and Giant owners come together, eventually, to condemn fan violence. San Francisco Giants managing partner Bill Neukom and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt issued a joint statement through the two clubs on Sunday, condemning an assault in the Dodger Stadium parking lot following Thursday's season opener between the teams. "This attack is unconscionable behavior that will not be tolerated in either of our ballparks or in either of our cities,'' the statement read. "Once apprehended, the attackers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Public safety is the top priority for all of us and even one act of random violence is unacceptable. "Baseball is a family sport that has unified our country after times of crisis and tragedy. This senseless act of violence has no place in our society and certainly not in our national pastime. The Giants-Dodgers rivalry is one of the most storied in all of sports, dating back to when the teams played across town in New York City before their moves to California. This is a great rivalry between teams competing on the field of play. That's where it must stay." The savage beating by two men outside Dodger Stadium left Giants fan Bryan Stow in a medically-induced coma. The 42-year-old paramedic from Santa Cruz in critical but stable condition. Two other men with Stow were able to escape the attackers. Doctors at County-USC Medical Center put Stow into a coma to help deal with his head injuries after the assault. Police and hospital officials would give no information on his status Sunday, but Stow's paramedic partner told his hometown newspaper there had been no change in his condition.

Edgy DC Apr 04 2011 07:57 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Maybe a good reaction for inter-team fan violence would be if the fans of the team that the beater represented collected money to gift to the family of the beaten. The problem is that sometimes, with some of the uglier incidents, both combatants were being provocative, but one ended up on top and the other on the botttom.

G-Fafif May 14 2011 01:28 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Bryan Stow still recovering. Doctors say the San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium is stable enough to be moved to a hospital in the Bay Area where he'll be closer to his family. Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center spokeswoman Rosa Saca says in a statement Friday that Bryan Stow remains in a coma in critical condition, but he'll be transferred to San Francisco General and Trauma Center as early as Monday morning. On their website, the family expressed relief and happiness that Stow was coming home but also said it was "bittersweet" because they would be leaving all "the wonderful people" they had met in Los Angeles. Stow was attacked in the stadium parking lot after the March 31 season opener. There have been no arrests.

Gwreck May 14 2011 01:31 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

200 Billboards donated to put up sketch of suspect. Still no arrests.

Frayed Knot May 22 2011 12:36 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

At least one suspect in custody

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 25 2011 11:29 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

A bit of bright, shining generosity in this mess, from a somewhat-unexpected source. According to Lori Preuitt of NBC Bay Area, Barry Bonds has donated to pay for Bryan Stow’s two young children to go to college. Bonds also visited Stow in a Southern California hospital on April 22 and autographed a bat for his children. Bonds is one of many in the Giants’ family who have shown support since Stow, a Giants fan, was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium on March 31. According to Preuitt, Tim Lincecum recently gave a $25,000 donation to the Stow family fund. With the excalating price of college, that could eventually be a seven-figure gift.

Edgy DC May 25 2011 11:34 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Depends on whether they stay in California, yeah. The Dodgers need to match the Giants penny for penny here.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 25 2011 11:38 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

I think both teams worked jointly to establish the fund.

metirish May 25 2011 11:40 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Fair play to Bonds.

Edgy DC May 25 2011 11:58 AM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

When Bonds testified that trainer Greg Anderson had so little money “lives in his car half the time,” he was asked by a juror why he didn't look out better for the guy who looked out for him --- why, in fact, he didn't "buy a mansion" for him. His legendary response: “One, I’m black, and I’m keeping my money. And there’s not too many rich black people in this world. There’s more wealthy Asian people and Caucasian and white. And I ain’t giving my money up.” It made a man wonder: how come everybody wanna keep it like a kaiser? But that's long way he's come. Good for him. Great for him.

themetfairy May 25 2011 01:00 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

That's a laudable gesture, for sure!

Gwreck May 25 2011 01:17 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Also: Stow family files lawsuit against the Dodgers.

themetfairy May 25 2011 01:33 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Also: Stow family files lawsuit against the Dodgers. Prediction - it'll settle, with a nondisclosure clause and no admission of guilt by the Dodgers. It's in the team's interest to settle quickly - prolonging the matter won't be in anyone's interest.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 25 2011 01:59 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

That settlement will be HEFTY. IIRC, the Dodgers had just slashed their stadium security by something ungodly (2/3 or 3/4) due to their dire financial situation. And I was apparently mistaken about the Dodgers' involvement in the Stow family fund, as per the Stow family lawyer: Is it unlikely this will go to trial? Will there be a settlement?: "I don't know. The Dodgers are funny. The very same people that get rid of security are probably the same people that don't want to settle the case. If they wanted to settle this case, if they wanted to show their good faith, they could have been picking up medical bills a long time ago. They could have been ordering neurosurgeons to take care of him. They could have set up scholarship funds for these two kids. They know how to resolve something if they wanted to."

Gwreck May 25 2011 03:27 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

themetfairy wrote: Prediction - it'll settle, with a nondisclosure clause and no admission of guilt by the Dodgers. It's in the team's interest to settle quickly - prolonging the matter won't be in anyone's interest. I think you're right on the first part and wrong on the second. Not that I am an expert in California law but given the potentially large damages, it may well be in the Dodgers' (and/or their insurer's) interest to wait to see how the criminal proceedings play out; to see if Stow's medical condition improves, etc.

G-Fafif Jun 08 2011 01:15 PM Re: Beast Rivalry in Baseball

Meanwhile, Dodger Stadium thinks blue...but not the usual kind. From the Times. June 8, 2011 After Beating, Dodgers’ Fans See Blue All Over By ADAM NAGOURNEY LOS ANGELES — Baseball in Los Angeles: Dodger Dogs and views of the San Gabriel Mountains from the stands. Perfect California days for the Boys in Blue. A storied franchise playing in one of America’s vintage stadiums. But these days, the boys in blue refer to a different uniformed team. Dodger Stadium is teeming with Los Angeles Police Department officers — on foot, on scooters, in patrol cars and in helicopters, on the lookout for fights and ugly rowdiness during and after games, in a stadium awash in empty seats. As a result, the Dodgers, rich in history and victories and a source of civic pride since Walter O’Malley brought them here from New York in 1958, have become a source of embarrassment for the city this spring, as a parade of indignities tests the loyalty of their anguished fans. The police presence — “Oh my God, it’s like an armed camp in there,” said David Hamlin, a communications consultant who attended a Chicago Cubs game last month — comes in response to an opening-day attack on a San Francisco Giants fan who is still in a coma. The episode was unsettling for its brutality, but it was not entirely a shock, considering that the stadium has become a source of growing complaints about drunken and menacing crowds in the stands and in the streets. The team has other problems, too. The long divorce drama involving the team’s owners, Frank and Jamie McCourt, has threatened the team’s financial viability and led Bud Selig, the Major League Baseball commissioner, to step in and take over to prevent the team from collapsing. The owners, who are already derided here for spending money on luxury homes rather than on new players or security, were in danger of not meeting their payroll; indeed, it was considered something of a milestone when Mr. McCourt was able to meet his payroll at the end of May. A team that used to be associated with championships was mired in the middle of the National League West on Wednesday, struggling to get to a .500 record. Attendance has slipped so much that The Los Angeles Times ran a front-page article last week showing a picture of empty bleachers, with the headline “Dodgers’ fans are going, going ...” Can you blame Dodger fans for thinking that it’s time to send the bums back to Brooklyn? “We go to games two or three times a year because of my affection for baseball,” Mr. Hamlin said. “I’d be very surprised if I go back this year. Very surprised. There are police officers on the field. There are police officers in the stands. The parking lot after the game made it look like watching the Mideast on television.” Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sighed when asked about the team he grew up with, attending the first games at Dodger Stadium and seeing players like Sandy Koufax pitch. “I think the entire city wants to get out of this purgatory,” he said. “I think everyone is frustrated.” Attendance this year is down sharply; through 31 home games to date, it has averaged 35,787, compared with 43,489 last season — the biggest drop in the major leagues, according to ESPN.com. And those numbers may be somewhat overstated, given that many season-ticket holders appear to be leaving their tickets in the drawer and staying home. Asked about all the empty seats, Josh Rawitch, a spokesman for the Dodgers, said, “We believe it is a number of factors.” He declined to elaborate. Many of them, though, are self-evident. The financial turmoil surrounding the McCourts means that the team is essentially bereft of the big-name stars who attract fans even to teams with losing records, which the Washington Nationals were able to do with the pitcher Stephen Strasburg (at least until he hurt his arm last year). And it is tough being a losing team in any city. More than anything, though, the opening day attack and the police presence in the stadium since then has made baseball here seem like anything but a family pastime. Dodger fans say the days when the biggest hassle of going to a ballgame was plotting ways to avoid the traffic, no small challenge for a stadium on the edge of downtown, now seems almost quaint. Fans are beginning to draw unwelcome comparisons to the rough and threatening crowds that used to attend Raider football games before the team decamped to Oakland, Calif., in 1994, many of whom would sport gang colors and tattoos. “When I got here, Dodger fans were unbelievably different than the fans I knew from New York,” said Woody Studenmund, a season-ticket holder and an economics professor at Occidental College who was born in Cooperstown, N.Y. — home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame — and moved here 30 years ago. “They were polite, upbeat and seemed to make an effort to cheer even when good plays didn’t work,” Professor Studenmund said. “Until this sea of blue arrived, it was not surprising to see fights in the left field bleachers or other parts of the stadium. The whole crowd has become tougher.” There seems little reason for hope on this season’s horizon. The McCourts will probably be dislodged as owners, though no one knows when that might happen. No one knows, either, how long it will take the team to repair its bond with the city. “I think the damage is so severe that it will take many years to get past this,” said David Carter, the executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. “They didn’t create the damage and ill will overnight. You have to go back and look at how amazing the Dodger brand once was. It will bounce back.” “But it won’t bounce back overnight,” he added. “I think fans are interested in just getting past this era and to the point where you can go to a Dodger game and just think about and talk about baseball.”