Advertisement

Toronto Police investigating beer-toss incident during Blue Jays-Orioles wild-card game

Yahoo Sports Staff
Orioles livid after Blue Jays fan throws beer at left fielder

Toronto Police are investigating the beer toss that occurred during Tuesday night’s wild-card game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre.

During the seventh inning, Blue Jays outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. hit a pop fly into left field and just as Orioles outfielder Hyun Soo Kim made the catch for the third out, a beer can fell from the stands above and landed with a splash about a foot away from Kim.

Toronto Police said they are working with Rogers Centre security while they investigate the matter. A police spokesperson said they have photographs of the suspect and are asking that person to turn themselves in. The potential charge for the beer-thrower would be mischief, the spokesperson said, and that is punishable by fine or jail time.

Making the rounds on social media on Wednesday morning was a video a fan uploaded to YouTube that purported to show the alleged beer-thrower. This video is unconfirmed and police said they hadn’t yet looked into it.

Following the incident in the outfield, centre fielder Adam Jones was livid and could be seen yelling up at the stands. After the game, which the Orioles lost 5-2 in extra innings, Jones spoke to reporters about the matter. Via the Baltimore Sun:

“Someone threw a beer down at my player,” Jones said. “First and foremost, that was about as pathetic as it gets between the lines. You don’t do that, I don’t care how passionate you are, how you think you’re passionate. You don’t do that. Yell, cuss, scream, we suck, we’re sacks of [crap]. We know, we’re horrible. We get it. We’re the opponent. We completely understand that, but to throw something at a player, that’s just as pathetic as it gets, and I hope they find the guy, and I hope they press charges.

“[Kim’s] not looking. You could hit him in the back of the head; you never know what could happen. That’s a full beer that’s been thrown. … I hope they find the person, and I hope they [prosecute] him.”

There were also reportedly racial slurs being directed at the Baltimore outfielders, which Jones also spoke to via the Baltimore Sun again.

“You hear everything,” Jones said. “We can hear everything, man, cussing you, flipping you off. That’s fine, but to go out of character, but to put us in harm’s way, we’re here to play baseball, nothing more, nothing less. Puts us in harm’s way, it’s not part of the game, it’s not part of any sport.”

This isn’t the first time beer made its way down to the field at the Rogers Centre. During last year’s ALDS against the Rangers, fans tossed beer on to the field during Game 5’s tumultuous top of the seventh inning. The spray from one of those beers infamously hit a baby sitting in the lower decks at the Dome.

Yahoo's Big League Stew via Jeff Passan also pointed out that an Orioles outfielder had a beer thrown at them back in 2013.