Man Throws Ball, Feels Regret; et al

It\’s long overdue to have a discussion regarding this.

I\’ve been attending Twins games on a semi-regular basis since 1998. I\’m not exactly sure when the \”tradition\” of throwing a homerun ball back onto the field started in the left field bleacher seats, but it wasn\’t long after I started going to games.

It was around the time when you could get tickets in left field for $5 (now it\’s $20). It started to become a rowdier crowd out there. Not the same level of rowdiness that you\’ll find in the Dome on a Sunday afternoon in November, but a rowdy (and young) crowd nonetheless.

This is the same crowd that pelted Chuck Knoblauch with hot dogs in 2001. Quick segue: I was at

that game (I believe Wednesday May 2nd b/c it was Hormel dollar a dog night) and there was nothing funnier than Bob Casey chastizing the left field crowd by telling them that if they didn\’t stop the Twins would be forced to forfeit the game… a sad, but hilarious, day in Twins history. But I digress…

Even with the obscene increase in ticket prices in left field, the crowd hasn\’t changed. It\’s actually the same idiots from 2001, they\’ve just gotten older and can afford to play 4 times as much for a ticket than they did back in college/high school. These are the people who continue to throw back homerun balls hit by the opposing team.

Copying anything that Chicago Cubs\’ fans do, it just a bad idea. What make this particular story sweet is that the asshat involved threw back homerun number 526 by Alex Rodriguez. However, what makes me upset is that the Twins in the past had made it a policy that anyone who threw a ball back onto the field was ejected from the game. But instead of ushers policing the stands, how about someone stand up for themselves and not succumb to peer pressure?

In other idiot news. Umm, not even sure what to say to this one. In case the link is broken, the short version is best summed up by the headline: \”Club-hopping guys greasing up with Preparation H\”.

And lastly… further proof that the Dutch are truly weird.