Oh, geez...I just don't know where to begin. This is so , SO complicated.
In case anybody has been living under a rock for the past 14 hours, I'll explain it. The news you'll hear is that Frankie Francisco, a Texas Rangers rookie relief pitcher, threw a chair at a fan.
While yes, this is what happened, there is more to the situation. Concerning Francisco's actions...there is no excuse for it, so that's not what I'm trying to do. He had no justification whatsoever in doing what he did. However, I will attempt to do is explain that it was in fact the Oakland Athletics' fans and organizaiton that resulted in the entire situation.
Network Associates Coliseum, the home stadium of the Oakland Athletics, is the worst venue in sports. No doubt about that. The bullpen for the relief pitchers (for baseball newbies, it's where the relief pitchers warm up their arms) is located on the field of play, right next to fans. Now, all season, when the Rangers have been in Oakland, the fans have been immature, and consistently cursed and bothered the Rangers' pitchers. Several times, the Rangers have requested added security, but the organization has not done anything. Last night, the fans seated behind the bullpen entered almost the height of immaturity. In addition to their usual obscene remarks, they began to throw things at the pitchers. Security, once again, failed in stopping these things from continuing. The game was a flip-flop battle, and I hope that the fans bothering the pitchers got to them in the head, resulting in an 8th-inning blown lead, but that's neither here nor there. Going into the 9th, the Rangers pitchers were hearing the worst of it, as the A's led 5-4. Rangers second basemen Alfonso Soriano homered to tie the game on the Rangers' potential final out. This angered the A's fans, and one of them threw a battery as hard as he could at Rangers' pitcher Doug Brocail's head, nailing him right in the back. Well, to the Rangers bullpen, this was it. They apparently could take no more. Brocail walked over to yell at them to stop bothering them, and the A's fans got out of their seats and taunted Brocail. Brocail is 6'5", 240. A big man. He had to be held back from going into the seats to kick the fans' asses, which they so nobly deserved to have done.
The Rangers' dugout emptied quickly, as if they knew that this was going to happen, almost like it had been going on for a long time! They held Brocail back, but it was at this point that the entire situation gets unbelievable.
I've met the Rangers' team several times, and Frankie Francisco is no exception. Today on the radio, Dan Patrick discussed that his teammates should have fear for his mental stability or something like that. He obviously does not know Frankie Francisco. Everybody that knows him knows that he is very mellowed, laid back, and kind. Yesterday, he was the subject of rookie hazing, and had to wear a tutu on the way to the hotel. He is one of the last people you would think would do something like this.
In short...he threw a chair into the stands. Kenny Rogers was half of a second late in stopping him, too. It hit two people, giving one woman a broken nose. Francisco was arrested after the game, and was bailed out of jail this morning. He is back with the team.
He will probably be suspended until the end of the season.
Ignoring what Frankie did, which is inexcusable, the lack of any security in the bullpen caused the situation to arise in the first place. I'm ashamed of Frankie Francisco, as the entire Rangers Organization is, but the A's organization should also be ashamed for failing to stop it from escalating this big, which they had the power to do and ignored. If I were an A's fan....I'd be ashamed too. I've always considered all the fans of a team to be one unit. And to be an A's fan, and watching your well, brethren, be so immature as to cause a situation like this to occur is shameful.
I am biased, yes, but I tried to tone down my subjectivity as much as I could.
What I believe Frankie should do is pay for any medical costs to the two injured people, and make a personal apology for his actions. In his mind, this was a long time coming, as the A's fans have been bothering the bullpen all season without hindrance. But that's not near as important. He did something so shameful that it'll probably be on ESPN's Top 50 in 25 years. He obviously feels remorse, as he acted in the heat of the moment. Hopefully this suspension will allow him to cool off, and perhaps maybe even learn a changeup.
EDIT: Okay, we have some more information. The man who caused all of this was Craig Bueno, of California. That's all we know now. And, for those of you who say that Frankie "threw a chair at an innocent woman", that's not true. He threw the chair at Bueno, who stepped far beyond the boundaries of a fan. But, I guess that's not over the boundaries for a fan in Oakland. We all know that they are willing to do anything to get attention (An Oakland fan threw his cell phone at Rangers outfielder Carl Everett last year, and was charged with assault).
