Fan arrested after disrupting Rays game with Cuba protest
The Tampa Bay Rays trip to Cuba earlier this week was considered a success for Major League Baseball and a landmark moment in the relationship between Cuba and the United States. At the same time, the parties involved also understood that not everyone would approve of or understand the reasons why it happened, and that some form of backlash should be expected.
Unfortunately, one such protest took place during Saturday’s Rays-Pirates game in Bradenton, Fla, and for a brief moment anyway put quite a scare into fans and some of the Rays players.
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According to reports from the scene, a fan believed to be in his 60s began throwing bottles at the Rays dugout while screaming protests in Spanish. The same fan then made his way on to the field, where he was subdued and held by Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo until security could physically remove him.
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times chronicled the incident on his Twitter feed.
The scary incident took place during the seventh inning while the Rays were up to bat. The game was being broadcast live on Root Sports in Pittsburgh, though no part of the incident was shown on TV. All that was seen was a pair of security guards charging across the diamond.
After the game, the incident was the first thing on everyone’s mind in the Rays clubhouse. That’s where some new details emerged, including the role alcohol likely played.
It appears that no one was injured, which is pretty fortunate all things considered. More so than the Rays players, fans easily could have been on the wrong side of one of those bottles.
[Related: Cuba could welcome back MLB defectors to play on national team]
The incident will no doubt get the attention of MLB officials. They’ll have to closely monitor security situations at Rays games for the forseeable future. Not all fans angered by their Cuba trip will take it this far, but you never know when those individuals will come or where they’ll come from. It’s a concern, but hopefully this will be the one and only incident that puts fans and players in danger.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
