WARNING: Click “Cancel” when the clip is over, or you will see a series of unrelated videos of dubious motive. I’m sorry; this is the only YouTube version of the incident.
Let’s list the ways this fan proves he’s a jerk:
- He doesn’t clear away so the player (Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez) can make the catch. Technically it isn’t interference if he doesn’t because the ball is officially out of the field of play. But good fan sportsmanship dictates that a fan, even of the other team, should allow the catch to be made.
- He not only doesn’t clear away, he competes for the catch. This is a fan actively interfering with the game, and treating a souvenir as more important than the game it would be a souvenir of—which means he’s an idiot, as well.
- Then, after the catch, this guy tries to wrestle the ball out of Gonzalez’s glove…to steal the ball, in fact. As long as a ball isn’t abandoned by a player, lands in the stands, or is tossed to a fan, it belongs to the MLB.
- In the alternative, as some have argued in his defense, he may not have noticed that he was wrestling with a player in the heat of the moment. I don’t believe that for a second, but let’s say it’s true. Any fan who sits that close to the field in a baseball game is obligated to know what is happening every second. Obligated. This is the Steve Bartman Rule, and you don’t want this to happen...
- After the incident (I think Gonzalez told him to let go or he’d be very sorry), the guy took a bow. This is the final qualification of a fick.
- He embarrassed Red Sox fans everywhere. There is nothing wrong with wearing your favorite team’s hat in another team’s park (contrary to the assertion of sportswriter Craig Calcattera and some of his Boston-hating readers), but like any other badge of allegiance, if you are in public and wearing a Red Sox cap, you represent the fan base, Red Sox Nation, as it is called in Boston (unfortunately), and that means that acting like a jerk reflects on more than just you. I just had to point out to a guy on another site (who wrote, “Typical Sux fan”) that the commenter is a bigot.
- He also embarrassed his girlfriend.
That’s seven, and preserved for posterity.
Oh, by the way, he was kicked out of the stadium.
Good.
Ethics Alarms 
From his reaction I think he may not have noticed it was player . But Im not sure. At the very least he looked up , realized he was the focus of everyone’s attention and thought “Oh damn” and tried to cover his tracks by throwing his hands up.
All Red Sox Fans are Ficks. Every single one of them.
I wrote down your likely comment on a slip of paper and put it in a hermetically sealed jar. Yup: almost word for word.
No True Scotsman: No real Red Sox fan would act like that. Or wear that phony hat, which has never been worn by a Sox player since the beginning of time…
He look greek to me.
Μολών Λαβέ
lol that just made me spit coffee.
In all seriousness I think MLB needs to implement a rule that any ball that is within the reach of a player on the field , lets say the first three rows, that a fan interferes with shall get the fan ejected from the park.
I’m with you.
Must be a lot since they lead AL in road attendance.
Hahahaha. He may not have noticed it was a player. He may not have noticed he was sitting in the first row. (Must be Bob Eucher). He must not have noticed he was sitting right next to the dugout. Maybe his girlfriend turned into a guy with a black first baseman’s glove. Or maybe she was hiding it in her purse.
Criminal defense lawyers are born in about second grade in the principal’s office, not made in law school.
Jeff Maier comes to mind since Bartman was already mentioned. Fans go foolish over foul balls and fair balls. In Fenway as with every major league team you will see the occasional fan interference.
When I go to another MLB park – I have been to 50+ – I will wear the other teams hat on occasion (Yankees excluded) as just a sign of respect. Other Sox fans get on me for that all the time.
Since the money has become so big in the sport, I could not blame MLB for instituting some kind of system of formally informing attendees with seats within, say, 10 rows of the playing field NOT to interfere with any player who is pursuing a batted ball – like the informing we all get these days in the movie theaters about silencing our devices. Or, the announcement might just be made to the whole ballpark. But it’ll probably never happen. I played too much baseball to make myself, as a spectator, interfere with a player, no matter which team I am rooting for or how much I might wish a player would fail on a particular play. That is basic Golden Rule practice for me.
The Red Sox earn fans to avoid balls in play.
*warn
The warning does not appear to be standard in all ballparks.
Good, for the warning that goes out at Fenway Park. I hope I see a game there, someday.
With you all the way on his being a jerk, embarrassing his girlfriend, etc. However, don’t the Rules contemplate and sanction this very behavior?
No interference shall be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk. However, should a spectator reach out on the playing field side of such fence, railing or rope, and plainly prevent the fielder from catching the ball, then the batsman should be called out for the spectators interference.
Given how rabid some sports fans were, not to mention he was risking pissing off 9 very athletic guys with WOODEN CLUBS, how does the survival instinct kick in? I get edgy going to the hotdog stand at Nats Stadium in a Cubs hat, let alone actually interfering with the game.
The Woman sitting right behind him said what Jack said with just her look!
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http://m.mlb.com/video/v479901783