By Eric Mehlhaff
Trojan Tribune Staff
Photo courtesy of http://www.foxnews.com/sports
    How often do you get the chance to attend a professional baseball game? Or better yet, how often do you get to see some real action at the game (not including homeruns, etc.)? Not very often I presume. You almost never get to see a heated fight break out in the stands over some stupid reason. Undoubtedly, May 3 was a night to remember for all fans who attended the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
   During the eighth inning of a Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Cardinals baseball game, a 17-year-old male hopped a fence at Citizens Bank Park. He dodged and fled from security for a few moments until a Philadelphia police officer fired a taser gun at the boy from about 15-feet away, dropping him instantly on the spot in left-center field. The Philadelphia Inquirer spoke to the young man’s dad on May 4 and reported that the kid actually called his father to ask for permission before running on the field. The dad told him it wasn’t the best of ideas, of course, but the future Penn State student went ahead and did it anyway. He’s being charged as a juvenile for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and defiant trespass.
   The Philadelphia police commissioner, meanwhile, is publicly supporting the officer’s actions, but the Phillies say they want to talk about whether or not such force is necessary for future trespassers. If they want my ruling, I’m calling it juuust a bit excessive. Then again, I’ve seen fans at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago attack Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa with a switchblade as he defended himself in the first-base coach’s box. Now that would have been a great time for security to break out the tasers.
   But this doofus in Philly was running on the field, being a nuisance like 17-year-olds can be. Phillies Shane Victorino, playing center field at the time, was never in danger. Nobody was, to say the least. This happens in every ballpark, sometimes many times a season, and security always gets the guy without having to tase him. Maybe this officer got tired of running after 15 seconds, who knows?
   Fortunately, the kid was not seriously injured because he regained the ability to walk, and he did so under his own power as security took him into custody. However, the point is: do we want fans running onto the field? No matter how entertaining it seems at the moment, no, we don’t. They don’t belong out there.