I don’t think I’m alone in saying a major part of the appeal of attending a sporting event in person is having the chance to try to get under an opposing player’s skin with some good, old-fashioned heckling.
Most professional athletes have a pretty thick skin, as being subjected to some good-natured ribbing sort of comes with the territory when you’re in that particular line of work. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of spectators who have a tendency to take things a little bit too far.
Earlier this year, Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was suspended for four games after trying to slap a fan he grabbed while leaving the field, and a couple of years ago, we were almost treated to the minor league baseball version of The Malice at the Palace after a number of players understandably took exception to having a beer thrown at them.
On Wednesday night, a similar scene unfolded at a game between the Long Island Ducks and the Spire City Ghost Hounds of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball courtesy of former Washington Nationals catcher Raudy Read.
The incident transpired in the top of the tenth inning after the Ghost Hounds turned a double play to end the frame and bring Long Island’s three-run rally to an end.
However, things took a pretty wild turn as the players headed back to the dugout, as Read was filmed hopping into the stands and sprinting up the stairs in apparent pursuit of a heckler who’d supposedly spent the inning peppering him with insults.
Former MLB player Raudy Read completes a double play then immediately runs up into the crowd to confront a fan pic.twitter.com/WceV8CIXrs
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 4, 2023
A number of coaches chased after Read, who was ultimately restrained before he could track down the person who’d drawn his ire and led back into the clubhouse to cool off.