Get off Adam Jones’ lawn.
The Baltimore Orioles center fielder has had it with fans running onto the field of play and disrupting games.
Two fans ran onto the field in the eighth inning of the Orioles’ game with the New York Yankees on Tuesday afternoon. The incident was rather innocuous, and the fans were escorted out of the stadium and likely faced some sort of fine for their troubles.
That’s not enough of a punishment for Jones, per Eduardo A. Encina of The Baltimore Sun:
I think it’s idiotic for people to run on the field, and I think the punishment needs to be a lot harsher, and they should let us have a shot to kick them with our metal spikes on because it’s stupid. You look like an [idiot] when you run on the field. …
We don’t go to any other events. We don’t go to other sporting events and do that to their jobs, but they come to ours and do that. I get it, you’re drunk and you want to be on SportsCenter. Your [butt] is going to jail with a fine, and you might not be allowed to come back to the ballpark.
I remember a couple of years ago, one dude broke his ankle in Baltimore. I was laughing at him. I wish he shattered his femur because it’s stupid. It’s just plain old stupid. Anybody who does it, I wish the cops tase the [hell] out of them. I wish that.
You can see where Jones is coming from with his larger point of contention. There is almost no reason for a fan to hop the barrier and enter the field of play. It interrupts the flow of play, and more importantly, it puts the players and coaches in danger.
Lest we forget Kansas City Royals first base coach Tom Gamboa getting attacked by two Chicago White Sox fans back in 2002.
Where Jones starts veering off into nonsensical territory is his idea of branding out justice right then and there. One can surmise that Major League Baseball would have a public relations disaster on its hands if a player were to attack a fan, even in a defensive manor.
Maybe Jones can bring up the idea at the next collective bargaining meetings.
Completely preventing fans from running on the field is unlikely to ever happen, short of building some sort of wall along the fence line. When you combine alcohol with rowdy sports fans, something stupid is always bound to happen.
For now, Jones would be wise to channel his anger toward fans to opposing pitchers. Nothing shuts up a group of opposing fans more than a home run.
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