Fans Taking It Too Far

Sunday, Aug. 11 the San Francisco Giants hosted the Baltimore Orioles and one raucous fan threw a banana at Orioles outfielder Adam Jones.

After the game Jones said this on his twitter account @SimplyAJ10

I want to thank whatever slapdick threw that banana towards my direction in CF in the last inning. Way to show ur class u jackass

The Giants media relations issued a statement this morning regarding the incident.

“We were extremely disappointed to learn about the incident involving Adam Jones at AT&T Park yesterday. The Giants have a zero tolerance policy against this type of behavior, which results in immediate ejection from the ballpark. While we have been investigating the matter since we learned of the situation, unfortunately we have been unable to identify the person responsible. We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to Adam and the entire Orioles organization for this unfortunate incident. The inappropriate actions of this individual in no way reflect the values of our organization and our fans.” 

So how far is too far?

I remember being at a Oakland Athletics game against the Texas Rangers in the early 2000s and a group of people including myself were yelling at the Rangers bullpen in right field. The yelling from others turned into screaming and a into a hazing of Frank Francisco. Francisco did not take the “warm welcome” from the Oakland fans and abruptly stood up from the bullpen of foldable chairs, and tossed a chair into the stands, hitting a woman who was sitting next to her husband.

While there was no throwing of objects by the fans onto the field, the abusive language others were using towards Francisco was unacceptable, and should be noted in a case like this with Jones and the Giants’ fans.

While throwing objects onto the field, including a baseball is an objectable offense, how does one negotiate the tolerance level of a player to disruptive language?

When I go into a park now as a fan, or under any capacity I react as if children are present, and most of the time there are. Keep your emotions calm for the most part and let your excitement show when needed. But always try your best to hold back negative actions that might make you or someone around you offended.

Next time the Orioles come to town whether it be in Oakland or San Francisco show Jones some love, after all he is a California kid.