Maybe I missed the public service announcement, or maybe it's because there's something in the water of Lake Michigan, but it seems the Windy City has developed the strangest method for fathers and sons who need to do a little bonding. It goes a little something like this:
Dad: "Hey son, how about we go to a baseball game and not wear any shirts?"
Son: "Okay, Dad. That way we can show off our gnarly tattoos."
Dad [now at game]: "Hey son, how about we take our shirtless selves and run on to the field and blindside a defenseless 54-year-old coach of the opposing team and beat him like there's no tomorrow?"
Son: "You're so cool, Dad! Can I hit a security guard, too?"
Dad: "That's my boy!"
In case you missed it, such a disturbing sequence of events actually took place at Chicago's Comiskey Park this past Thursday, Sept. 19. During the ninth inning of the White Sox-Royals game, William Ligue Jr., and his son rushed the field and attacked Kansas City first base coach Tom Gamboa from behind. After knocking him to the ground, both father and son proceeded to kick and punch the stunned and defenseless Gamboa.
Then came the cavalry charge. As expected, the Royals players sprinted out of their dugout to give Ligue and his son a taste of their own medicine. As Royal first basemen Mike Sweeney would later admit, if not for the security guards pulling the players away from the pile, the Royals would still be there beating Ligue and his son. If you ask me, Ligue is just lucky no player had the frame of mind to bring a bat with him.
Ligue, whose sense of fashion and body art must have been inspired by Ozzy Osbourne, now is charged with a felony count of aggravated battery in a public place of amusement. For his bonding efforts with his son, he currently is being held on $200,000 bond. With several thousand witnesses and the whole event caught on tape, an already easy prosecution for the District Attorney got even easier when Ligue's sister informed the D.A. that Ligue called her and told her to watch the game so she could see him on television.
According to the D.A., after calling his sister, Ligue gave his keys, cell phone and jewelry to another one of his sons sitting with him. I guess that son missed the family therapy session where the shrink suggested this masterful father-son bonding plan and wasn't allowed to join the fun.
With Ligue facing a maximum sentence of three to five years in jail and his son facing two juvenile counts of aggravated battery -- the second for hitting an off-duty police officer acting as a security guard -- Major League Baseball is rethinking and evaluating the safety of players at baseball stadiums.
Although I believe it's logistically impossible for metal detectors to be implemented at stadium gates, I wouldn't be surprised if the next fan running on to the field gets leveled before he even makes it to fair territory.
What used to be an amusing, drunk fan running around the bases or running away from overweight security guards has now turned into a player's greatest fear.
Royals outfielder Carlos Beltran voiced the sentiment of most players when admitting that "no matter where we are, we're not safe" anymore. If I'm a player and I see some loony fan run on to the field, I'm making sure a bunch of my closest 225-pound friends and I guarantee he isn't running vertically for very long.
When someone runs on to the players' sanctuary, whether it's a field or court or other open space, they will now be treated as a hostile enemy and dealt with the utmost caution.
Even the University has not been immune to such an incident. Following the Sept. 7 Virginia-South Carolina football game, students and fans rushed the field as the clock wound down in celebration of the Cavaliers first victory of the season. It was embarrassing enough that the whole "pretend like we've been here before" theory was thrown out the window (it was only freaking South Carolina, people!!), but reports and pictures after the game suggested that Virginia fans and Gamecock QB Corey Jenkins traded more than just words.
With the details of what actually transpired remaining sketchy, all I know is that if any Virginia fan did initiate any physical contact with Jenkins -- as I'm assuming the fan most likely did -- then all I can say is that I hope a good Jenkins right-cross left that Virginia fan with a black eye.
It's one thing to celebrate, it's an entirely different thing to get in the face of an opposing player. That should never ever happen. It's a black eye for Virginia and should be a black eye for the fan.
And one last thought on Ligue and his partner-in-crime son: Maybe they just thought Gamboa was holding Jerry Springer auditions -- his show is taped in Chicago, isn't it?
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