One incident of violence at Dodger Stadium is one too many.
Los Angeles police are looking for two men who beat and critically injured a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the opening day game.
Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg says two men in Dodgers clothing followed three men in Giants gear as they walked to their car after Thursday night’s 2-1 Dodger victory.
Rosenberg says the attackers yelled slurs against the Giants and began kicking and punching the men.
One victim suffered a head injury and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Rosenberg says the injury is not life-threatening.
“It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans,” the Dodgers said in a statement. “We’re committed to having the most fan and family friendly environment in baseball and will continue to make that a top priority. We are cooperating fully with authorities during their investigation and we wish this fan a speedy recovery.”
Investigators don’t have the identities of the suspects and are asking anyone with information on the attack to call police.
I really lack the words to describe my feelings of how disturbing this is. There absolutely has to be zero tolerance. It’s just appalling. Even though I’m not responsible, as a Dodger fan it’s hard not to feel shame, let alone regret.
Just a thought, but maybe it’s seriously time, maybe at the start of the eighth inning when people have consumed most of their liquor (alcohol sales stop after the seventh inning), for Dodger Stadium officials to pause during games against the Giants and remind fans — with a new public address announcement and scoreboard message — that we’re here to win, not to maim. Because even if 55,997 fans know this to be true, we still need to get the message to the other three.
People get the advisories about fan behavior in the first inning, but that’s a long time and a lot of beers in the past — plus, those advisories focus on in-stadium behavior, and could leave the impression to a few people that the parking lot is some kind of demilitarized zone.
I’m not blaming the Dodger organization, whose Opening Day otherwise was quite successful — just offering a suggestion. I’m open to others. I realize you can’t prevent all crime from happening, but this is starting to seem like an annual event, and I’m not sure we’re at the limit of measures to be taken. The game needs to remain a game, not a war.
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