51s’ victory ends in melee

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003 | 9:37 a.m.

For the second time this season, players from a visiting ballclub charged the stands in a postgame melee at Cashman Field.

But the first incident, when a few Fresno Grizzlies players chased after a fielder's glove on July 3, paled in comparison to the conflict Monday night.

According to witnesses, an unidentified fan, sitting near the Portland Beavers' dugout, harassed Portland first-baseman Tagg Bozied throughout the game, using vulgar language and motions to taunt the player.

Things came to a head in the ninth inning, when Bozied's popup was the third out after the Beavers rallied to within one run. As Bozied returned to the dugout, the fan reportedly threw a foam ball in Bozied's direction. Cashman Field staff had been distributing the balls to the crowd through the game.

When the fan threw the ball onto the field, the Beavers -- all of them -- charged into the stands, chasing up 20 rows and across six sections after the spectator. They then allegedly assaulted the fan until David Corey, a bodyguard at the game to watch his brother Bryan pitch for the 51s, shielded him.

"His brother comes to watch Bryan," said 51s general manager Don Logan. "He basically jumped in and saved the guy from getting it worse."

Portland manager Rick Sweet arrived soon thereafter and tried to disperse things, after appearing to give some more harsh words to the fan.

The spectator appeared to be relatively uninjured, with scrapes and bruises. He declined to give his name or comment, and left without an ambulance.

None of the Beavers would comment on the incident.

Logan was hoping for an early exit Monday night, but instead wound up trying to investigate what happened.

"They're used to it. That goes with the territory," Logan said of the harassment players take from fans. "Getting to this level, they're used to that kind of thing. When the ball goes, that was it. That was the provocation.

"That ball being thrown out, essentially that's what ignited the whole thing. The verbal abuse, as vulgar as it might get, unfortunately is commonplace."

According to Metro Lt. Joe Gemma, neither the fan nor player decided to press charges. The Pacific Coast League may discipline the players, but according to Logan, did not punish any of the Fresno players who went into the stands in July.

Longtime Cashman Field scorer Jim Gemma, now the 51s' media relations director, said this was the first incident to this degree he had seen since he began working for the team in 1983.