A Bloody Weekend for Some Fans in Philly

It's so predictable....Mets fans go to Philly, ugliness ensues. Philly fans come to NY, same thing. Yanks fans go to Boston...ouch. Sox fans in the Bronx, WW III.

It's really a shame that a good rivalry can't just come with the usual taunting and a little smack talk...instead there has to be physical violence, or the threat of actual violence, and the real chance for a child to get hurt at the game.

I would ask the bloggers from both teams to get together and universally denounce this type of behavior from anyone. Let's talk a little smack, but also have fun with it without fear of violence.

Personally, I recommend we start acting like the fans from those heated rivals, Dodgers and Giants, and call each other "Dude" a lot and occasionally throw a piece of tofu or an underhanded compliment.

But alas we're East Coasters, and we have to do things the hard way.

I'd love to go to Philly to see a game and enjoy that stadium, but I'll probably just pass...not worth it.

Now we see this report from the 700level.com:

Mets-Phillies Rivalry Already Turned Ugly

It took all of two games for the Mets-Phillies rivalry to turn ugly in the stands at Citizens Bank Park. I emailed with Nick, the photographer behind these photos of a bloodied up Mets fan to get the story.

Nick's report below:

I didn't see the incident occur, but the story that spread through our section was that he was hit on the head with a glass bottle. I don't know how you'd get a glass bottle into the stadium since they're doing full pat-downs this year, but I don't know what else could cause that kind of damage.

When the commotion started he was standing up, but he fell to the ground soon after I started watching. He was on the ground for a while and it took about 10-15 minutes for an EMT to arrive. They bandaged his head and helped him walk away. Apparently the perpetrator was immediately led away by the police.

Our area (section 143, in left field) and the outfield in general were pretty nuts throughout the game. A fan in the scoreboard porch area threw a bottle of beer on the field after Ibanez's home run, and I later saw police and security questioning him. Also, while the bloodied fan was waiting for the EMT to arrive, about 5-10 people in orange shirts were walked down from the scoreboard porch handcuffed by the police. I think they also were ejecting fans who threw Mets home runs back on the field. All in all a wild day. I wouldn't have wanted to have a family there. And it's only May. I can't imagine what the fall could be like.

Thanks to Nick for his report. This kind of behavior from either team's fans doesn't belong at the ball park. Why can't fans of both teams just enjoy some baseball and keep the trash talking to simply that: talking? [The700Level]