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Angry fan rushes field, tries to fight minor league pitcher (Video)
Fans attempt to run onto the field of play during baseball games every so often, usually looking for their 15 seconds of fame or trying to make good on a bet. We've seen those things dozens of times and we'll certainly see them dozens more.
But we don't see this too often: An angry (and reportedly drunk) fan rushed the field at Sunday's Double-A game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and Midland Rockhounds and tried to fight Midland pitcher Blake Hassebrock. Hassebrock had just hit Hooks batter Telvin Nash with a pitch, with Midland down 9-0.
The fan, identified by KZTV as Nikolas Swope, charged Hassebrock and made the usual motions dudes make when they want to fight other dudes. One of Hassebrock's teammates pushed Swope out of the way, then more of Hassebrock's teammates and umpires surrounded Swope until he was escorted off the field. He was arrested and is now accused of criminal trespassing and threatening assault, per KZTV.
After the game, Hassebrock recapped the situation from his perspective, telling the Corpus Christi Caller-Times:
“I saw (the fan) out of the corner of my eye and I honestly thought it was someone from their dugout, like a trainer, going to see Nash,” Hassebrock said. “Then I realized when he was halfway between the (foul) line and the mound, that he was a fan. My first thought was I just hoped he didn’t have a gun or something weird. If he’s crazy enough to be on the field, who knows what he had on him. By the time he got to me, he stopped and it looked like he came to and regretted being out there in the first place. We didn’t (make contact).
“This was something out of ‘Eastbound and Down.’ (What he said) was pretty much inaudible, drunken gibberish. (There was) a couple of f-bombs and some slurring. I’m pretty sure he was upset I hit Nash.“
It would appear that Swope was wearing an Oakland Raiders T-shirt during his ill-advised trip onto the field, so feel free to make your own jokes about that.
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Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
