Orza Says Players Would Do It Again

Power to the people?

The Major League Baseball Players Assn. is concerned that Frank Robinson’s suspension of 16 Dodgers for the May 16 incident involving fans at Wrigley Field--if designed to set an example and get the attention of players--may have greater impact on fans, creating potentially dangerous situations.

“I think baseball really has to rethink what it is doing here, because it may actually be emboldening some fans into thinking that the stands are completely off-limits [to players] and therefore they can do whatever they want. They can’t,” Gene Orza, the union’s associate general counsel, wrote in an e-mail to this reporter Thursday.

The incident in Chicago was ignited when a fan, reaching into the Dodger bullpen, allegedly struck reserve catcher Chad Kreuter in the back of his head and stole his cap. Kreuter pursued the man into the stands as several teammates also went into the stands to tussle with fans or try to serve as peacemakers.

Robinson, in issuing his suspensions, said that baseball cannot condone uniformed personnel going into the stands, no matter the circumstances. Orza called that an “intolerable” premise in that it suggests fans can create any situation without concern for reaction from the players--or as San Diego Padre star Tony Gwynn said in radio interviews Thursday, “The fans now have carte blanche. The players are not allowed to defend themselves no matter what happens to them.”

Orza also labeled it an intolerable premise on the basis that any player who did not go to the aid of a teammate under attack would undoubtedly be fired by his general manager. He said players have and will defend themselves when required, despite the Dodgers’ suspensions.

“The clubs cannot seriously maintain--and should not suggest to the public--that a player can be the victim of an assault and battery, as Chad was, and yet must thereupon say, ‘Gee, too bad I can’t do anything about it, because the attacker is in the seats,’ ” Orza wrote in his e-mail. “A ticket is not a license to abuse players. Some verbal hectoring obviously is part of the culture of the game and players must respect that.

“But a physical attack? Why baseball wants to send the message it is sending is simply beyond me. But I can assure you players past, present and future will not respect these fatuous policy pronouncements that there are never, ever circumstances under which they may leave the field. They are human, and if provoked, will defend themselves.

“In this case, a fan left his seat, walked down a ramp and, from behind, hit a player in the head with the heel of his hand. As for the players who sought to defend Chad from the situation into which he was provoked, all I can say is a player who wouldn’t leave the field in defense of an attacked teammate is a player no other player, manager, or general manager I’ve ever known would want in his clubhouse for very long.”

The union is appealing the suspensions.