Perhaps it was John Sterling who said it best, describing the “fans” at Yankee Stadium who decided to continually throw debris on the field after Saturday’s game ended as “hooligans.”
Well, Gio & Jerry – who was in for Boomer thanks to some logistics issues in D.C. – had something to say about the situation at the top of Monday’s show, and Jerry got straight to the point:
“How about this concept: you need humans to actually act like decent people,” he said.
Gio observed that he thinks we are on the verge of another “Malice at the Palace,” the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl involving Ron Artest, after watching the fans treat the Guardians outfielders the way they did on Saturday – and he might have a valid reason.
“The level of disrespect that is going in is insane,” Gio said. “Everybody says they can’t let this happen again, but do we actually examine why it happens and then make significant changes? Here’s the issue stadiums will never talk about: you overserve a lot of these fans, and you’ll never stop serving alcohol, because you have the money flowing from $18 beers – and now you have people who are jerks to begin with, and their BAC is through the roof, and you never want to mention that because of the revenue.”
Jerry’s other idea besides humanity acting like humans was to figure out who does it and ban them from not just Yankee Stadium, but every MLB stadium – and perhaps every arena utilized by a major pro sport of any kind.
But when Jerry brought in the idea that baseball players shouldn’t go back at the fans when things happen, well, Gio had different ideas.
“People have gotten comfortable with saying whatever they want to people without getting their asses kicked,” Gio said. “A lot of that has to do with social media, and people think they can say what they want and you have to deal with it because you’re the player and I’m the customer. I mean, come on!”
In making his comment about acting decently, Jerry mentioned how baseball is the one sport where fans are closest to the action without a barrier (i.e. the glass in hockey), and that’s also empowering fans – as evidenced by the kerfuffle with Myles Straw and Oscar Mercado Saturday.
“Look at what that fan is doing? Do you see the sign he’s making in his face?” Jerry asked. “Because that guy would pummel the crap out of him if he ever did it on the sidewalk.”
“It’s a wonder he didn’t climb up there and just start beating the hell out of him,” Gio shot back. “I hate to sound like a prude, but who the hell wants to go to an environment like that? People want attention, they’re drunk, and they have no respect.”
And to finish, Jerry offered a thought that no one should have to think about:
“What happens if Mercado doesn’t catch that bottle, and it hits him right in the face?”
It’s a bad situation all around, and you can listen to Jerry & Gio’s entire discussion about it above.
Follow WFAN's morning team on Twitter: @7BOOMERESIASON, @GioWFAN, @Alsboringtweets, @JerryRecco, and @WFANMornings
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