It’s on to Tale of Tape

An Edison Field usher was on guard, as always, beyond the left-field fence Wednesday night. Just below him is potential trouble.

The bullpens at Edison Field are within spitting distance--quite literally--of fans.

Disney officials wanted fans close when they renovated Anaheim Stadium in 1996. The two-tier bullpen that sits adjacent to the “Family Section” did just that. The chance is always there for an incident, maybe not as ugly as what happened with the Dodgers Tuesday at Wrigley Field, but . . .

“I’ve seen my share of fights and been in my share of fights,” the usher said. “But that’s only when the [New York] Yankees and Dodgers are in town. We had a doozy opening night. These two ladies went at it. One was a Yankee fan, one was an Angel fan. They didn’t see eye-to-eye.

“Usually, it’s pretty nice out here. When there’s a problem, [the fans] usually fight with each other. They leave the players alone.”

After all, this is Southern California, not Chicago, where in 1995 a Cub fan charged the mound and was dropped by Cub pitcher Randy Myers.

“About the worst thing that happens here is some kid will demand a baseball,” Baltimore Oriole reliever Buddy Groom said.

Whether Southern California fans are easy-going or merely indifferent, players said there are no major problems.

“People will yell things at you,” Angel reliever Troy Percival said. “That’s just baseball. Opposing teams hear it, sometimes we hear it. When the Yankees or [Cleveland] Indians come to town, there are 25,000 of their fans and 15,000 of ours. You know a guy yells, ‘You [stink]’ and he thinks he’s being clever. He doesn’t know I’ve heard it 500,000 times.”

It isn’t the verbal taunting that bothers Percival. In 1995, he was warming up in Milwaukee when a fan heckled him, then threw beer at him.

“I picked up the rosin bag and threw it at the fence,” Percival said. “Powder flew all over the guy. He went and got another beer and dumped it on a couple of our pitchers.

“When they opened the gate for me to go into the game, our guys went after him. The security guards hustled the guy away. The bottom line is I had to go in and pitch with beer all over me.”

Bullpens have traditionally been a magnet for fan abuse, verbal and otherwise.

“In Philadelphia, you’d give them a baseball and they would leave you alone,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It was like their form of extortion. But buying a ticket doesn’t entitle a fan to cross the line.”

That’s what might have happened in Chicago.

“That one fan will ruin it for everyone,” Oriole reliever Chuck McElroy said. “When a fan asks for your autograph now, you have to be careful. Who knows what he has behind his back. Are we going to have to have metal detectors on the gates?”

Yankee pitcher David Wells was harassed by Indian fans, who hurled insults about his deceased mother, while he warmed up prior to an American League Championship series game in 1995. Wells went out and beat the Indians, then mockingly tipped his cap to fans, and ripped them in the postgame press conference.

Not that Yankee fans are any better.

“They’ll throw stuff at you in the bullpen,” Groom said. “Batteries, pretzels, depending on their mood.”

Not that Yankees are any better. Last September, Allen Watson allegedly threw two baseballs at a 16 year-old Baltimore fan, whose sign angered him. Watson settled out of court in April.

“Cleveland is tough, New York is tough, Boston is tough,” Oriole reliever Mike Timlin said.

And Anaheim?

“It’s not bad out there,” Timlin said. “There are a lot of kids, which is what it’s all about.”

Besides . . .

“If there’s a problem, we go and talk to them,” the Edison Field usher said. “If they persist, we go get security. They aren’t as gentle about it.”