In the Belly of the Early Departing Beast

The following video was from Monday's Phillies victory at Dodger Stadium. It was shot by a Dodgers "fan." The creator of the video writes in the video, "This Phillies fan was annoying. He wouldn't stop clapping and he wouldn't sit down." You know, because clapping at a baseball game is totally uncalled for.

The loyal Phillies fan, who is sporting a Gary Matthews tee shirt, does nothing but stand up and clap for the Phils. The people whose "hood" it is, chant to get him kicked out, to get beer thrown on him, as well as some derogatory name calling. The video creator writes, "He was annoying so I threw a water bottle that was full and I crumpled up a dodger dog into a baseball and threw it at him."

I'll say this, that doesn't look anything at all like a good atmosphere to watch a baseball game.

In another account of the game from someone who isn't even a Phillies fan, they tell of more ugly scenes at Dodger Stadium.

The boiling point occurred late in the game when two young ladies wearing red Phillies shirts tried to get their picture taken at Dodger Stadium. While one fan held the camera, the girls positioned themselves against the rail in the front row, posing for a great snapshot with historic Dodger Stadium as the backdrop. Dodgers fans decided booing would not suffice and a few men stood up and blocked the photographer from taking the picture. The girls at first laughed it off, assuming the men would eventually let them get their photo. No luck.

Dodgers fans began cursing out the women for apparently trying to show them for by taking a picture of themselves wearing Phillies gear in Dodger Stadium - yeah, it makes perfect sense. *rolling eyes*

He's got video of some of the ruckus as well. Perhaps the best bit from his post:

When the seventh inning stretch hit, the nice guy next to me told me not to worry as most of the fans would be leaving soon. He said that the fans stay to sing and leave. "There's a whole generation of kids that think the game ends when you sing. They don't find out til they're ten. Like 'What? Baseball goes nine innings?'"

Comments

[ricky]

worse than Mets fans? Wow. Congrats LA

[Jim]

I would love to have some of these essays come to the bank to see a real baseball atmosphere.

[Liam]

I guess they're upset that he's at the game to watch and peacefully cheer for his team and not trying to start shit with hundreds of opposing fans? I just don't understand it. As everyone has said before theres a difference between say a Dallas fan who goes to the Linc and doesn't stop talking shit and a guy who only stands up occasionally and clap for his team. Not once do I see him trying to talk shit, and in fact he takes the high road and tries to defuse the situation. The only reason I would say I'm glad Philly has our reputation is to the importance it places on our security. The security in the video and from peoples stories is absolutely clueless and does not but escalates the situation. In Philly if people did anything of that sort we all know the stadium security would be there immediately.

Can someone forward all of these videos and reports to Simers and show him its the fans of his team who are the classless ones? And maybe send that on to espn to show that we're diehard fans, not douchebag fans, theres a difference as these accounts all plainly show

[Loqiel]

And again, because this happened in LA and not Philly, it will get zero attention in the press or elsewhere.

[johndewar]

Imagine if that had been our fans doing that to Dodger fans. Bob Ley would do an "OTL" special on it. I love a good double standard.

I never expected the Dodger fans to be assholes. I expected disinterest and apathy, but not the behavior I've read or seen in these posts. These guys are way worse than New York fans.

[Mike H.]

Mets fans versus Dodger fans. It's close, but Mets fans have that sense of entitlement. You know, the "We're from New York so we know everything, so give us the trophy." LA fans just show up when there's a party or they are in the playoffs. It's like comparing obnoxious versus pathetic.

[Riggs]

I commented yesterday, and in correctly compared the reported Dodger fans to the Philly fans when I attend games there proudly wearing my Mets gear. However... after watching this video I can honestly say that I've never been treated like this. That was crossing the line by far - throwing things and pulling a shirt - and most of the game the Dodgers were winning! I actually admire those guys for not responding like they probably wanted to and just standing their ground. That crowd out there - which apparently if referred to as Mexico City - was downright rude and uncalled for. I wish the camera would have kept rolling near the end, because I could overhear the announcer saying "Now batting, Matt Stairs". Would have been interesting to see that reaction from both sides... must have been sweet redemption for the 3 Philly fans.

As a non fan of either team (and traditionaly a Philly hater), I have been pulling for the Dodgers - but after watching this video - I find that tough to do. Not that it matters to you true Philly fans who I root for - but I can honestly say that I've never been treated that badly at a Philly game.

P.S. - Go Rays! :) Haha... seriously though - good luck in the Series... and I look forward to popcorn and batteries being tossed in my direction next season. (ok.. just kidding, please no batteries)

Mets fan

[Mike H.]

Plus, its that whole gangland "this is my hood my turf" bullshit going on in LA. Pathetic. Funny how we don't see the video after Stairs's home run.

[al]

did anyone catch caludia gomez' (fox29 anchor) report from outside Dodger stadium after they won on sunday? they were jumping all over her, throwing stuff, it was a disgrace.. i was just listening to anthony gargano and he said she told him it got worse after the report and she compared it to the riots she reported there awhile back.. i thought thats prob a bit of an exaggeration but he went on to say people started pulling her hair and throwing beer on her.. I've never heard of anyone in philly doing that to a reporter, ever.. and we are the scumbags, right?!?!

[TH]

I just wish people would shut up about us now... oh wait, that'll never happen because we booed Santa Claus and Kobe Bryant. WHAT A CRIME~!

[Tartan69]

At least when Mets and Phillies fans heckle the other team's fans, they do it intelligently. There's a back-and-forth. The garbage from the Dodger fans in the above video is just flat-out pathetic.

LA is just a flat-out BAD sports town. Almost as bad as Atlanta.

[Brian]

Dodgers fans are pieces of shit for the most part. I was at the game last night, sitting in one of the better sections, so there were less rabble around. Didn't have any trouble at all, despite my being a pretty loud Philly guy. However, usually when I attend regular season games the Mexican thug wannabes try to start shit. Fucking Machismo bullshit. Dodger fans are cocksuckers right up there with the worst fan bases in the country. It's just much worse because they are all fat bastards with ugly, chunky, overly-makeup'd women. Don't believe the tales about LA Women in that stadium. All you'll see is donkey meat.

[TJ]

Tim McCarver says, "The Dodger fans are allowed to act like assholes, because they have Manny Ramirez on their team. And let me finish by saying Manny Ramirez is amazing"

[will]

donde esta la biblioteca essaaay?

[Brian]

Oh, also - after Stairs and Vic hit their homers and Manny / Martin / Loney didn't combine for anything in the 8th, about half the stadium left. Playoff game, with your team getting last at bat, down 2, and half the stadium leaves? Tells you what you need to know about Dodgers fans.

I will put in a slight caviat to my previous ramblings - the Dodgers fans that I interacted with at THIS GAME (not any other, ever) were actually very nice. Good natured talk, good game sentiments when it was over. Don't know if its because I'm 6' 3" or if it was just that I was in the more pricy seats, but I was really surprised. Now when Wed's game comes around...we'll see if I make it out without bloodying my knuckles.

[theKrisheim]

"essay"

that's fucking hilarious

[MPR529]

F political correctness here, this makes you really hate the mexicans in attendance. their women are just as obnoxious as the men. rooting for beer pouring? usually a woman at least has SOME sense of reason and won't go that far. the mexican security guards are hardly helpful either.

living in phoenix and having to put up with similar abuse the night before still has me unbelievably pissed off at this culture/team/city. ban me, block me, delete my comment, i don't care, but after seeing that video, i hope people can see how those fans dont compare to ANY other fans. all they want is a fight. they have no genuine interest in the game or their fellow-fan regardless of their team's affiliation.

unreal.

Phils in 5.

[gootman]

There are drunk assholes everywhere that make a fan base look bad, god knows we have a ton of them. Its the rest of section that really classifies the fanbase. That beind said, it seem like that whole section were a bunch of assholes.

[MPR529]

@Riggs: and I have been to Phils games @ Shea from 98-2000 and NEVER had a thing throw at me either. Except a couple of peanuts after a pat burell home run one time, but that's because I was cheering loudly and deserved it to a degree. but at least afterwards, I could carry on an intelligent conversation with some of the fans around m about baseball. in LA it's, "shut up and die, juero!"

what you see in the video is a disgrace and glad another team's fan can understand that.

[MPR529]

@gootman: besides the entire section, when you walk into the parking lot afterwards to find your car they're threatening and saying the same shit as on the video. "this is our town, essay, go back to FEEE-LEEEE." they seriously are all about picking fights, it's absurd the level of "machismo" they try to reach.

ok, im done.

[Mark]

Were they throwing popcorn and peanuts? Wow, dodgers fans know how to hurt someone. Losers

[Mike H.]

I've seen two Phils vs. Dodgers games in Dodger Stadium. First one, Dodgers won 4-0, and I had shit thrown at me all night. In the second one, the Phils beat them up, 8-4. I remember Jeff Kent had four strikeouts that night and he came up in the ninth. I had seats behind the plate and I got on him like white on rice. He walked on a borderline pitch. The rest of the fans just looked away. They're just pathetic.

[themajor]

I have been to phillies games in many stadiums and have gone to some phils game with fans from the opposing teams, so I have seen my share of abuse. I never get the throwing of things. asking him to sit down is ok during lulls in action cause thats politeness but throwing things acting thugish and having a mob mentality has no place in sports. What next the gangs of LA will act like the firms of england? oh wait atleast the firms have some kind of understanding of the sports and things you do and don't do.

[MPR529]

yeah, in the all you can eat pavilion where this video takes place, they actually DO NOT SELL BEER. they booted the one guy in the video because he had a beer in his hand. they have peanuts, popcorn, dodger dogs, nachos and soda.

so yeah, these fans were not even drunk.

[doubleh]

I don't know how true it is but Gargano on WIP was reporting quite a few fans in the stands had knives pulled on them by LA fans. That's just sad.

[Not a fan of five]

He probably shouldn't have been standing the whole time, but those fu#@%ers are annoying as hell. throwing shit is below most fans' threshold for acceptable behavior, but did he have to stand the whole time? that's bad "fansmanship" too.

[Zack]

I just hope if the series does somehow come back to Philly, the people who are lucky enough to be at a game can rise above this and not act like assholes. Cause you know what will show up on ESPN the next morning...

[theKrisheim]

ESE'

people

ESE'

if you're gonna use their slang and at the same time be borderline racist, at least get the slang right

[MPR529]

sorry, holmes

[Greg]

has anybody else read this article from Simers?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-simers10-2008oct10,0,3626509.column

[Brett]

@ Riggs
One of the best moments at a baseball game happened with heckling Mets fans. It was 98/99 and i was done selling programs (which i did for 10 years until 2006 and THEN they go to the playoffs) and both teams weren't good so Veteran's wasn't filled. Anyway, me and my buddies sat a section away from 4-5 Mets fans and we went back and forth chiding each other and then my buddy says to a portly fellow with a mullet "Hey that guy ate Mike Piazza and stole his jersey" and him and his buddies actually laughed and we continued onto the game.

Also in 06 we went to a Phils/Mets game and I had to wrangle my drunk friend all day and despite words Mets fans were fine.

Get it straigh we don't like each other but at least out of the East we can respect each other as the best fans (Nats? Marlins (all 3 of them)? Braves (they leave before Dodgers fans and have worse attendnce) So I look forward to the jawing next year. :)

[Carl P]

This is absolutely painful to watch. I mean are you freaking kidding me?

[Joe]

You stay classy, Los Angeles. If this happened in Philly … 500 1,500-word articles.

[Jake]

Someone said it a bit ago, but the security there seems absolutely terrible

[HLH]

Where should I begin?? Wish I had tickets to the game. I would have some fun with them fans. Especially the one that like to pull on shirts and pull knives.

[JF]

hahaha whoever made this video is the biggest dumb ass in L.A.

i threw a full water bottle at him hehe

[Bernie215]

If the INS shows up to game 5 Dodger Stadium will be even more empty than it was last night.

What a bunch of assholes. I've been to Phillies vs Mets games and havent seen anything that bad. Yeah we heckle eachother but no one is grabbing a mets fan, trying to block their view or throwing shit at them.

Someone mentioned knives being pulled at the game...it wouldnt surprise me. LA sucks, California sucks.

[MPR529]

if you read the non-Phils fan report of the game he talks about someone going to get an usher. that was me. i had to walk around to find one and when i did, it was a mexican woman who came down and talked to him for 5 seconds and then they shook hands and hugged and she walked away. that's when all hell broke loose.

in retrospoect, i should've just sat there and gotten whipped with a rally towel in the face for the remaining 5 innings.

inmates in bed the asylum at that place.

[Zack]

Simers article is really atrocious...i guess when you spend a ton of money on a manager and players like Andruw Jones you deserve to be in the world series

[maria]

doubleh

I did hear too; some LA fans pulled out knives.

[TH]

Hey Simers, the Rays have something to say about your "Must-See TV" scenario too, douchecake.

I still want the Sox because I think we need to exercise the demons against a Boston squad, but Simers makes it so hard for me to hope for that scenario. What a joke, no wonder they didn't flinch when he threw his hissy-fit and quit Around the Horn like the stuck up bitch he is.

[Dave]

What is wrong with these Dodger fans??? And I am being nice by even calling them fans...how often do they support their team???

[HLH]

Just because they were the one's who poured the concrete and did the landscaping for below minimum wage at dodgers stadium doesn't give them the right to choice who watches the games there. Just ask the security guard ....well talk slowly they are limited with their english.

[bkbruin]

As a LA resident who has season tickets just one section over from where this video was shot, I was not supprised. My parents come from Philly so I know how ardent the fans can be (You are the best). FYI - these are not the typical Dodger fans. Since the Raiders left town, we have been getting an increasingly large component of the "Raider Nation" coming to Dodger games. These are the same frontrunning fools who support USC on Saturdays. All they want to do is drink, start fights and act foolish. They make me sick.

[Ryan]

I'm a Philly fan in NY so I get out to the Mets games a lot when the Phillies are in town. My buddies from Philly usually come up, too. We're your typical Philly fans - baseball savvy, into the game, loud, borderline obnoxious and get into verbal spars with mets fans. My experience with the Mets fans is they're much like us but root for the other team. We've always shaken hands after the bouts with our fiercest combatants and deep down we have mutual respects.
What I've seen from the Dodgers crowd in this video is pathetic. I've never witnessed anything like it with Mets fans at Shea, the Vet or CBP. This is clearly a bunch of idiots that would rather spend their time fighting than watching a good baseball game.

[Riggs]

I think it all depends on where you sit. When I've sat up in the 400 level at CPB I get heckled pretty bad... If I pay more for my seats, the debates are usually enjoyable - and intellectual. I think that was the case with these poor Phillie fans in Dodger stadium. They were basically sitting in the "ghetto".

[RYan]

I'm generally in the upper deck in Philly or NY. I wouldn't say the Mets fans are intellects by any stretch of the imagination (hell, neither are we), but, like Philly fans, Mets fans do understand baseball.

[Greg Benson]

Did you guys ever get around to watching the game? It was pretty good, you know.

Sometimes people go to games in opposing teams' parks. In this modern, transient age, it's often the only way to see you favorite team.

For you to proudly post this video on Youtube is as reprehensible as your drunken behavior last night. Now I'm even more glad your team lost in heartbreaking fashion.

[upSTAIRS]

Lame. Tame. Component? Limited with their English? Ghetto? Complaints from PHILLY FAN'manship' in the 700level?! RUFKM? Reads like booing and heckling from brown skin is the problem. BullyUP.

[will]

krish i suppose the pablo fancisco connection wasnt made. plus, if i were racist i would try harder than that.

also, what exactly did upSTAIRS say? anyone