Assault at Orioles game sends man to intensive care

[russ snyder]

I haven't followed the Dodger Stadium incident in awhile, but one of the issues was that the stadium authorities were less than forthcoming (i.e. dishonest) about misleading the public and lawyers with statistical data related to violence and safety at the stadium. Seems like fertile ground for some potentially big lawsuits to me. I've been lambasted as a prude on this before, but here goes: I don't think think the stadium is an appropriate venue to sell alcohol. If they're going to do it then they better have pretty tight procedures and polices ..... and be ready to face the litigation. Personally, I would just get rid of it and screen the ingress more aggressively.

I would bet that almost every violent incident at sporting events in America are fueled by alcohol. While I drink beer at the ballpark, I agree that it's probably not an appropriate venue to sell it. However, with all of the money being made on alcohol we will never see a complete ban on alcohol. In addition, I think that tail gating at football games and "pregaming" at bars before baseball games contribute greatly to this problem.

I wish this young man a speedy recovery.

[NewMarketSean]

I work with a guy who is friends with Matt. Apparently he was walking yesterday, so that's good news. Also, the POS O's fans are in jail where they belong.

[oriolesmagic9]

I work with a guy who is friends with Matt. Apparently he was walking yesterday, so that's good news. Also, the POS O's fans are in jail where they belong.

I move that their Orioles fan status be permanently revoked. I don't want them associated with my team or our countless legion of true fans.

[Dark Helmet]

Dude...there are plenty of BPD officers available, as well as security and ushers. I doubt a gun would even be necessary.

Sent from my SPH-M950 using Tapatalk 2

No disrespect, but there wasn't enough around to keep a guy from being taken to shock trauma. Otherwise, someone failed to do their job then.

[Dark Helmet]

As a lawyer, I'd be the first to say that (1) a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and (2) the media often don't give an accurate or balanced account of events. That said, we know what the victim's girlfriend says, we know that there were dozens of witnesses to whatever happened

, and we know the police decided they had enough evidence to arrest these guys for pretty serious criminal offenses. I think that's enough to give us a basis for comment based on the newspaper account, even if none of us witnessed the events in question.

I never fully understood the "innocent until proven guilty" logic. I always consider it the opposite. Otherwise why do so many people sit in jail until they have their trials? I'm really just curious on that. I know most fans dont go to the game to get hammered, but im shocked these typed of incidents dont happen more often at games. Thats why im kinda torn on the legal drinking age. I can see the "If your old enough to go to war, then your old enough to drink" side. But making it easier for a teenager to get alcohol has potential for a lot of trouble. Though in this case, age is definitely not a guarantee of majurity.

[SeaBird]

No disrespect, but there wasn't enough around to keep a guy from being taken to shock trauma. Otherwise, someone failed to do their job then.

I've been to a lot of ball parks and I'd hate to think my fate rested on the reactions of old, overweight male and female ushers to break up any kind of confrontation. They're good for chasing folks out of seats they didn't pay for and pointing you to the restrooms. In a confrontation they'll call the police or security. That's all I'd expect.

[MDK02]

I can't stand fans like these two punks. I enjoy the game and ball park too much to even care about the teams fans around me, if you can't someone wearing the other teams colors or apparel then I suggest you stay home. These two idiots are giving us true Os fans a bad rep.

[oriolesmagic9]

I never fully understood the "innocent until proven guilty" logic. I always consider it the opposite. Otherwise why do so many people sit in jail until they have their trials?.

Lol, I thought I might be the only person who thinks this way. I always presume you must have done something to get your butt locked up.

I understand it's a legal issue related to the rights of the accused. After all, not all of the accused are actually guilty. I get it. But it's still kinda funny to me. I'm glad you mentioned it.

[Tx Oriole]

I move that their Orioles fan status be permanently revoked. I don't want them associated with my team or our countless legion of true fans.

Maybe have them banned from the stadium. Hopefully they will be in jail for years

to come. Makes me wonder what will be done or what can be done to protect fans

at the stadiums. You can't ban beer because some can get tanked up before the

games. Security can't be around all the time. I would be afraid to bring a baby or

a young child to a game for fear they could be hit if some fool threw a bottle.

For me I won't go to a game. Paraplegic in wheelchair. I couldn't defend myself if

some drunken SOB attacked me. It is a damn shame that some fans have gotten

so crazy over a sport. Over a game. They ruin it for everyone else .

[weams]

You are the one who needs a gun so aren't you the pansy?

I asked for no gun talk. Any more, and we are closing this.

[Don_Aase_Fan]

I mean, you have to expect some ribbing wearing a NY hat to Camden Yards (a non-Yankee game no less), but this is way, way over the line. Sickening, really. Life is infinitely bigger than two baseball teams.

Hope Matt makes a full recovery.

[weams]

I've been to a lot of ball parks and I'd hate to think my fate rested on the reactions of old, overweight male and female ushers to break up any kind of confrontation. They're good for chasing folks out of seats they didn't pay for and pointing you to the restrooms. In a confrontation they'll call the police or security. That's all I'd expect.

This is exactly the case. An usher is a usher.

[weams]

I work with a guy who is friends with Matt. Apparently he was walking yesterday, so that's good news. Also, the POS O's fans are in jail where they belong.

Well this is really what we could hope for. Thanks.

[crowmst3k!]

Edited...did not see Weams' post. Removed my comment about guns.

This was a failure of the stadium officials and police, for sure. Hopefully the Orioles examine if there's any communications problems between stadium officials and police. If they don't have it already, make sure that all ushers have radios tuned into the OPACY BPD command post at the stadium and have all officers and staff tuned into this so that communication can happen efficiently and authorities can be summoned as needed.

I've only ever been involved in one fight at OPACY, and it was some Yankee fans giving some O's fans trouble. I stepped in the middle, as a neutral guy, and got a hit to the jaw. It sucked, but my intent was to draw the attention of the guy away from the actual fight. It worked, he just kind of backed off after it. The Police came and broke things up in only a few minutes and ejected their fans.

Fighting at ballgames is idiotic, but I can understand how it develops. The Orioles need to tighten up their response time to some of the upper deck sections, and on nights that the stadium is 50% empty, the ushers should close sections with only a few people and consolidate them to empty sections closer to the crowds. This will give everybody less ground to cover.

It's about response time more than anything.

The fight I intervened in was in the lower bowl, so there was plenty of available security. Some areas of the upper deck can be like no-mans land on any given night.

[oriolesmagic9]

Maybe have them banned from the stadium. Hopefully they will be in jail for years

to come. Makes me wonder what will be done or what can be done to protect fans

at the stadiums. You can't ban beer because some can get tanked up before the

games. Security can't be around all the time. I would be afraid to bring a baby or

a young child to a game for fear they could be hit if some fool threw a bottle.

For me I won't go to a game. Paraplegic in wheelchair. I couldn't defend myself if

some drunken SOB attacked me. It is a damn shame that some fans have gotten

so crazy over a sport. Over a game. They ruin it for everyone else .

Great post. I can promise you this...... I would do everything within my power to help a person in distress at the Yard, or anywhere else for that matter. I might not be able to prevent the first bottle from being thrown, but any further launches would be opposed, hopefully by security.

I should be clear. I'm not encouraging fans to jump in and have a royal rumble. Hell, the last thing I want to do at an Orioles game is fight. Oh sure, I might secretly hope the obnoxious Yankees fan got the one bad hot dog in the entire stadium, but that's about it.

It saddens me to hear that potential violence is keeping you away. I think you would have a wonderful experience at Camden Yards, the recent foolishness notwithstanding.