Top Ten athlete/spectator confrontation

Over the years there have been plenty of fans, writers and spectators who have disagreed one way or another with players or management thoughts. Below are ten confrontations that got a little out of hand.

10. Jack Parkman vs. Cleveland Indian fans



Ok, so this is a TOTAL stretch but in "Major League II" David Keith played the beloved Indian slugger who was released midway through the year and signed with the AL West rival White Sox, where he was immediately despised by at Municipal County Stadium, or should I say Camden Yards. Nine more real confrontations will now follow.

9. Michael Jordan vs. Spike Lee



Mars Blackmon never had a chance. Any time Jordan stepped into The Garden, he not only had to step up to defeat the Knicks, but to shut Lee up. Lee always sat in his same court side seats, wearing the same goofy clothes, and the majority of the time the game ended with the same result, a Bulls win. You can’t endorse the shoe of the greatest basketball player ever and expect him to not to show you up. He should just make a film on all the times Jordan broke his heart and title it “Jordan from Mars,” a Spike Lee Joint.

8. Disco Demolition Night



This was not a true confrontation in a sense, but it will go down as one of the zaniest promotional stunts in history. Mike Veeck tried to take a page out from his Dad, Bill Veeck’s shenanigans, by joining forces with shock jock Steve Dahl. Between games of a doubleheader Dahl marched out in camo-gear and detonated a crate filled with disco records. Near-disaster ensued as fans jumped the fences and rioted on the field, resulting in the first forfeit in Major League history in years.

7. Antonio Davis vs. Bulls Fan



A day after the two month anniversary of “The Malice at the Palace” (The coolest name of any fight of all-time) Davis commemorated the brawl by jumping into the crowd at the United Center to defend his wife. While the incident was rather anti-climatic and the only ‘bow thrown was the one from the NBA, the same one that strapped Davis with a five-game suspension. (Which is unfortunate because that kid from Waubonsie Valley had it coming.)

6. Ozzie Guillen vs. Jay Mariotti



We all know Guillen has a wide vocabulary. But he may have barked up the wrong tree in July of 2006, when he called Mariotti, among other things, “a f*****’ fag.” The comments were made after Mariotti’s article regarding the demotion of pitcher Sean Tracey who did not continue the "beaning war" that had been going on during the series. Guillen would immediately apologize to the gay population, but not to Mariotti, who by that time had already shot in my eyes, the most awkward “Around the Horn” in the history of the show. When the topic “OZZIE” was the first spoken about, everybody in unison agreed with Jay’s thoughts, a first for “THE HORN”.

5. Dennis Rodman vs. Cameraman



Dennis Rodman is by no means humanitarian of the year-worthy, but his blow to Eugene Amos Jr.’s junior may have been a new low for the Cadillac of rebounding. On January of 1997 in a game in Minnesota, Rodman fell to ground during a loose-ball and wound up face to face with the cameraman. For whatever reason, Dennis proceeded to kick Amos in the groin, resulting in an 11-game suspension. The funniest part about this is that Rodman did not apologize but instead said “It’s one thing to be hurt, but don’t pretend your more seriously hurt than you are. Maybe I’ll send him some roses on the floor – Love Dennis.”

4. Kreuter vs. Cubdom



An infuriated Chad Kreuter ran into the stands at Wrigley in 1998 when his hat was stolen a fan who proceeded to runaway. No other words describe this incident better than melee, as Dodgers jumped the brick wall the way WWF wrestlers jump into a Royal Rumble. What looked like a kegs worth of beer was thrown at the LA pitchers, and in the end, fan Ronald Camacho came out the winner; of a $300,000 lawsuit courtesy of Kreuter, who literately choked out Camacho in the brawl.

3. Father/Son duo vs. base coach



Royals First base coach Tom Gamboa had no way of really defending himself from the tag-team known as the Ligue family, when they ran out onto the field during a game at Comiskey. The duo tackled Gamboa and started throwing punches. The Father, William, had apparently been at a Cubs game earlier in the day, and was too intoxicated to think. His son, a 15-year-old, (are you kidding me?) was sentenced to five-years probation and 30 hours community service.

2. Sox fan vs. umpire



As if it was not embarrassing enough, less than a season later, another idiot tries to run onto the field, this time attacking an umpire. But this fan had no chance. Laz Diaz, current ump and former Marine, straight up whooped his ass. “I’m physically ok… You should ask the other guy how he’s feeling,” said Diaz in a post game interview. I wish security would have just let them keep fighting, because there surely would have been a death on the field. Needless to say, I am glad justice was served, yet I could not feel more embarrassed about the duo of Sox fans incidents. This is like when I showed TTCS to my class, only to have Freddy’s Friday post showing. Then to do it again a week later, with Fred’s new post up.

1. Steve Bartman vs. Moises Alou



In a story that will live longer than the Billy Goat and Leon Durham, enter Bartman. During the eighth inning of Game Six of the NLCS, Steve, who was listening to something else on his headphones and clearly not paying attention to the game, innocently decided to reach up and go after a foul ball. You all know the rest. Bartman will never feel welcome to Wrigley again, which is unfortunate considering Moises Alou’s recent comments regarding the foul ball. “Everywhere I play, even now, people still yell, ‘Bartman! Bartman!’ I feel really bad for the kid… You know what the funny thing is? I would’t of caught it anyway.” So now he is folklore and hated in Cubdom because Alou didn’t speak up five years ago and say this. What a jerk. Alou probably could have made that play if he wasn’t 75-years-old. But as much as I would like to conclude bashing Alou, I think we all know who really should take blame for that debacle. Alex Gonzalez, you are forever off the Budweiser Hot-Seat.