(no subject)

[rivka]

My sister, who does not like sports at all, just called me at 12:17am. She wanted to talk about the game.

"It's so exciting!" she said with a certain tone of helplessness to her voice. "They just needed one more out, and they, they got it!"

She was stuck without a TV, so she watched the whole thing on MLB GameDay. I got to tell her about the blood soaking through Curt Schilling's sock and the A-Rod interference fiasco. And the riot police.

"I can't believe you're up," she said at one point. "Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"...Yeah."

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Hey. Tell me about the riot police.

I'm writing an essay on World Series security for UPI.

B

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

At one point in the 8th inning, after Alex Rodriguez had been called out for offensive interference, the fans got really upset. According to the sportscasters, they were throwing baseballs and other objects onto the field, and we got many shots of umpires conferring with high-ranking police officials (one guy had two stars on his shoulderboards, and another had what appeared to be four or five stars). There was significant pointing into the crowd, and they appeared to be pointing at a few distinct locations, although it was hard to tell at home.

The police officials then waved some cops in riot helmets and some sort of bulky clothing (might have been body armor, but I couldn't tell) out of the dugouts, and approximately a dozen came out of each dugout and moved down to where the tarps are kept rolled up along each foul line. They knelt down on one knee, originally facing into the crowd, but they soon turned to face the batter's box, although at least one cop continued to watch the crowd at each moment. No weapons were drawn, although I saw then all with long batons.

They stayed out through the rest of the eigth and the top half of the ninth, and then they went back into the dugouts. The announcers didn't mention the crowd getting unruly or throwing objects onto the field of play for the rest of the broadcast.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

curiousangel already provided a fairly complete account, so I'll just add a few more details.

The play in question was originally miscalled by the umpire. Bronson Arroyo (the Red Sox pitcher) was trying to tag Alex Rodriguez (the Yankees runner) out on the way to first base. Rodriguez reached out one hand and chopped at Arroyo's arm, causing the ball to squirt out of Arroyo's glove and roll away. The closest umpire didn't see what happened, and ruled that Rodriguez was safe. The Yankees' Derek Jeter, who was already on base, came all the way around to score a run, bringing the score to 4-3 Red Sox.

Then the umpires conferred, ruled (correctly) that Rodriguez was out for interfering with the play, and took Jeter's run off the scoreboard. The crowd went crazy. At one point you could hear them over the announcer's voice, chanting in unison: "Buuullll-shit! Buuullll-shit!" They threw things onto the field and at the Red Sox players, so much so that the Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, actually brought his players in off the field into the shelter of the dugout while order was restored.

curiousangel underestimated the number of riot police - the NY Times says there were 40. They were shoulder to shoulder down the first and third base lines, which are the places where fans could most easily enter the playing field.

Of course the fans in the stadium didn't get to see the play over and over again in slow motion, as those of us watching TV did. The replay made it very, very clear that Rodriguez was at fault, but from the perspective of fans in the stands, they'd just been robbed of a run for no legitimate reason.

[rmjwell.livejournal.com]

Actually, it is likely the in-the-park fans could see the replay, thanks to things like Jumbotrons and other large video screens having been installed in most ballparks. I'd even go so far as to suggest that the attending fans seeng the replay might've taken the steam out of any potential riot.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

In my experience, ballparks don't show the replay of a disputed call on the Jumbotron, for fear that if the replay shows a call was incorrect - or if the replay is inconclusive - fans will be more likely to riot.

In this case, I agree, it would have been good to show the replay to quiet down fan anger.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Some more security details here (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/sports/baseball/21pins.html).