Source - NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit/Tony Kovaleski: Has Fan Violence Plagued Sporting Events?

By Vince Cestone

It sickens me to have to pose this question, but unfortunately, recent events have shown going to a sporting event is no longer a safe thing to do.

I know because I helped compile the data illustrated in the investigative report shown below (click on the video to play it). Tony Kovaleski, with the help of Liz Wagner and Felipe Escamilla, reported on this very unfortunate issue in the package, which aired on NBC Bay Area last Friday.

Here are some key statistics/information reported by Kovaleski in this article (with contribution from yours truly).

•  "I was punched repeatedly by three distinct individuals," said 66-year-old Los Gatos resident Manuel Austin Jr. He was at Candlestick Park for the 49ers/Steelers game in December (his first game in seven years).
• "According to data from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, at the Oakland Coliseum last season fans at Raiders games received 87 police citations. There were 144 arrests and 448 ejections."
• The most violent game at Candlestick Park last season was that Steelers game mentioned above. There were 38 fights and 57 ejections.

And for those of you who think the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park is a family-friendly baseball sanctuary where "It's Magic Inside" or kids can freely "Say Hey, Come Out and Play," think again.

• Police records show in 2011, there were three assaults, 124 fans booked, and 559 ejections at AT&T Park (don't interfere with the balls that come down the line!)
•  Giants/Dodgers games show 26 arrests and 113 ejections, more than any other opposing team (no surprise)
• Friday nights produce more fan-related problems than any other day of the week (maybe CalTrain's allowance of alcohol has something to do with this?)

The article also suggests that alcohol may be one of the key factors leading to fan violence.

“What normally leads to trouble is someone who has too much alcohol because it inhibits their ability to make proper decisions,” Lt. Bill Roualdes of the San Francisco Police Department told NBC Bay Area. He monitors incident reports at the Giants games.

...


I hate to say it, but when you're at any sporting event, you need to be on your best behavior. If you do anything to upset another fan, you could be a victim just like Manuel Austin Jr. (even if it seems like harmless bickering, just ask Bryan Stowe).

Anybody who has the audacity to repeatedly hit a 66-year-old elderly man should be locked up for a long time. Interestingly, the men who beat up Austin only received misdemeanor citations, NBC Bay Area reported.

If you're feeling anxiety about going to see your favorite team, relax. Most likely, nothing is going to happen if you mind your manners and don't provoke other fans.

You can also diminish your chances of getting hurt at a stadium by going to the game on a Sunday or Saturday day game (from my experience).

I can only speak for Giants games, but the bottom line is this. If you want to decrease fan violence or rowdiness, limit the amount of alcohol a fan can consume. This means banning alcohol on CalTrain at all times, or sigh, banning alcohol at all sporting events.

Otherwise, I believe, fan violence is inevitable. Alcohol is powerful, and once it gets into a fan's system, there's little anyone can do to stop fans from acting out.

Still, AT&T Park is generally a safe place to go. Just be careful on a Friday night versus the Dodgers. Beat LA!

Here's the package from the NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit. Chief Investigative Reporter Tony Kovaleski reports. Watch first, then I will pose some questions. Then, you can comment.

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

Has stadium violence gone too far? Are you afraid to go to a sporting event? Are you afraid to go to certain sporting events as opposed to others (an NFL game versus a MLB game)?

Were Manual Austin Jr.'s attackers punished enough for what they did?

What should stadium security do to take corrective action? Is there anything they can do, is violence inevitable at stadium?

Lastly, on the flip side, does anyone think these statistics are overblown or misrepresented? Should stadium security be more lax like it was 25 years ago where fans could run on the field after their team wins a big game? Will stadium violence be the same or good down even with looser stadium security?

We may never know the answers to some of these questions, but we can always talk about them.




Have a story idea NBC Bay Area's Investigative Unit should take a look at? E-mail my blog mailbag at vince.cestone@yahoo.com or contact the unit at theunit@nbcbayarea.com

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Buster Posey Looks Good in Spring Training, Manager Bruce Bochy to Limit Catching Duties

By Vince Cestone

A bit of good news for those San Francisco Giants' fans worried about the health of Buster Posey.

On KNBR radio earlier this week, avid baseball enthusiast and radio broadcaster/historian Marty Lurie said Buster Posey didn't even look like he was injured. He was throwing, hitting, and catching the ball as if he was not injured.

I always knew that Buster Posey was a resilient young player, and I had no doubt that he would get through this. When I heard Lurie say that Posey looked as if he was not injured, somehow I was not surprised.

Due to Posey's fearless attitude both at the plate and behind the dish, who's to stop him from blocking the plate again and succumbing to another season-ending surgery?

Bruce Bochy, that's who.

According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bruce Bochy said after a workout last Sunday he did not want Buster Posey blocking the plate when runners attempt to score.

Rajiv Patel/Flickr UCinternational[(www.creativecommons.org]

"I don't want him blocking the plate right now," Bochy told Schulman. "I've already talked to Buster about this. There are ways you can make the tag without blocking the plate."

Schulman also reported Posey wanted to catch during the Cactus League opener on March 3.



...

I understand Bochy's willingness to protect his star catcher, but what happens when the game is on the line?

Imagine this scenario...

The Giants are playing a wild game in Colorado. The Giants were down by a couple of runs heading into the top of the ninth inning, but they score two runs to tie it.

The bottom of the ninth inning comes along.

The Giants retired Dexter Fowler on a ground out. The next batter, Jonathan Herrera triples. Up comes Carlos Gonzales.

Gonzales hits a fly ball to shallow-to-medium right field. Nate Schierholtz catches the ball and fires home. The ball approaches Posey who must stand behind the plate, or somewhere outside of the baseline, as Herrera races home.

The ball hits Posey's glove when Herrera is two feet from home plate. Posey makes a lunging attempt to tag Herrera, but Herrera does a fade-away slide and gets his hand on the third-base edge of the plate before Posey can tag him.

The Rockies win the game.

Had Posey blocked the plate, and he hung on, the Giants take the game into extras.

Conservatism does not work in do-or-die plays. Posey knows that, and I think he would, in the heat of the moment, block the plate and do what is best for his team to win at that moment. He is just that kind of player.

The point is to play the game right. If you get injured, whether you are Buster Posey or Scott Cousins, that is just part of the game.

Remember, in sports, nothing is for certain--whether it's success or your health. If you play a sport in fear, then what's the point of even playing the game if you cannot play it right?

What do you guys think? Will Posey disobey Bochy's orders and let his adrenaline and desire to win take over on a do-or-die play?

Was Bochy right to discourage Posey to not block the plate, and perhaps discourage him from playing the game right? Is it fair that Eli Whiteside could block the plate, as opposed to Posey?

We will find out the answers to some of these compelling question as the season begins.

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Photo Attribution: By Rajiv Patel (Rajiv's View) on Flickr (Original version)UCinternational (Crop) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Manny Ramirez coming to the Bay Area

By Vince Cestone

According to Pedro Gomez of ESPN, the Oakland Athletics have agreed to sign free-agent slugger Manny Ramirez to a minor league deal.

Photo Courtesy of NBC Bay Area

Ramirez is expected to report to spring training by the end of the week. The deal is worth about $500,000 if he makes the club out of spring training.

There is a slight catch to the deal. Ramirez must serve a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy for the second time in the last four years, making him eligible to join the A's on May 30--his 40th birthday.

Ramirez played in just five games with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011 before he was suspended. He announced his retirement shortly after, but has decided to come back to baseball in 2012 with the A's.

Ramirez's last good season came with the Dodgers in 2009, where he posted a .290 batting average, with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs in 104 games. He was traded to the Dodgers at the 2008 trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox.



Ramirez owns 555 career home runs (14th on all-time list), with a career .312 batting average and .411 on-base percentage in 19 big-league seasons. His Hall-of-Fame status is questionable due to the previous drug allegations.

Despite his recent struggles, Ramirez has always been an on-base machine, the type of hitter A's General Manager Billy Bean has been known for cherishing. Ramirez fits Bean's "Moneyball" formula, as he has maintained a .400+ OBP in his last three full seasons.

The A's have not reached the playoffs since 2006, where they were swept by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 American League Championship Series. The A's hope to rebuild their offense after signing the Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who expressed interest in playing with Ramirez according to ESPN.

...

I think the Ramirez deal is a good signing for the A's, especially at the $500,000 price tag. It's a low-risk option for a team who was desperately looking for an offensive spark (although they signed Cespedes, the Cuban defector is a question mark until he plays in a major league game).

If Manny performs in spring training, he simply does his thing as a DH when he gets back from his suspension. If he stinks it up in the spring, you let him walk.

I was a bit surprised Ramirez took such a low-ball contract. You know, with Manny being Manny, that always means big money--and more fanfare.

I think another consequence of Manny's signing is more fans at the Coliseum. Ramirez filled up Dodger Stadium when was traded there in 2008, giving the Dodgers an extra 3,000 fans on average per game.

Only time will tell if the soon-to-be green-beanied Ramirez will help the Athletics get back to respectability in the AL West, but with Manny Ramirez, nothing is ever for certain.

Will the signing of these sluggers be enough to compete in the American League West (Albert Pujols to the Angels, etc.)? Will Manny return to form? What effect will Mannywood have on the Coliseum and A's fans? Are you excited about the deal?

One more good question to discuss. Which offense is better? The A's or the Giants'?

Curious to hear your thoughts below!

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Information from The Associated Press and ESPN were used in this report.

The Inactivity of the San Francisco Giants: Is their 2011-2012 MLB Offseason Wasted?

By Vince Cestone

 Add caption











Getty Images via The Bleacher Report






From the NBC Bay Area newsroom in Downtown San Jose... (yes, I am interning here)...

I know it has been so long since I talked to you, but here I am once again to provide you with my thoughts on the San Francisco Giants "and baseball in general." This new internship has ended my six-month battle with writer's block (Yay me!).

Something I heard from General Manager Brian Sabean about a month or so really bothered me, and it should bother you if you are a San Francisco Giants fan. The words Giants fans have heard countless times to the point of frustation came from this MLB.com article.

"We've pretty much gotten to the top of the budget," Sabean said in the article.

The article also says:

"In terms of player movement, the Giants' offseason has ended.
That's an exaggeration, but only a mild one.
General manager Brian Sabean said Wednesday that with guaranteed and projected salaries factored in, the
Giants have hit their $130 million player payroll limit."

It also adds that the Giants will continue scour the free agent market for potential bargain acquisitions.

Do Giants' fans really want to hear this same old story again?

The Giants have a real shot to establish themselves as the team to beat in the National League West--and perhaps the NL. They have the pitching staff to get it done, but their offense still remains sub-par in comparison to other elite teams in baseball.

Especially with much of the offensive talent leaving the league, such as Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols, the Giants had a shot to become the superpower of the division--or even the National League. One power bat could have been enough (a la Carlos Beltran) with a healthy Buster Posey, but the Giants decided to fold.

Beltran signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for two-years, $26 million. Since he did not command the big multi-year deal as originally thought he would, the Giants missed out on a great opportunity to sign a steady, respected, and established bat in the middle of their order.

I think this article from a fan on Yahoo Sports is right on the mark.

Don't get me wrong. I think the Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan deals were great and necessary to improve team speed and athleticism. However, I think if the team was truly committed to winning, an extra $13 million spent on a quality player would not have hurt the team too much financially--especially in a time where it's always a party at the corner of Third and King.

Perhaps the extra star power would have paid itself off in sales if the Giants made another playoff run--or even another World Series run.

It makes me wonder one thing. If Bill Neukom were still around, would the Giants have made a stronger push for Beltran?

Did the Giants miss good opportunities this offseason? What do you guys think?

Follow me on twitter @vintalkingiants. Be sure to use the #talkinggiants tag when referring to my article on twitter.

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