Field of Nightmares

Five spectators invade a baseball field in Toronto before being tackled. In Oakland, a fan chucks a cellular phone at an outfielder. In Chicago, a base coach is attacked from behind by a shirtless father and son; seven months later at the same stadium, a drunken spectator grabs an umpire. In Chavez Ravine, a man tries an infield trot -- and faces trial and serious penalties for it.

These aren’t fans. Incidents of spectators turning to mischief or violence are rising in what seems to be a foolish game of one-upmanship intended to get 10 seconds of fame on the late-night news. Some of these boors are fueled by booze. Some want to excite the crowd; indeed, the boos from the stand are punctuated with laughter and cheering.

The consequences often aren’t funny. Tom Gamboa, a Kansas City Royals coach, suffered permanent hearing damage when he was tackled in Chicago last year. Athletes have dramatic reason to worry about their safety: 10 years ago, tennis great Monica Seles was stabbed as she rested between sets in a Hamburg Open match.

As for the attack on the umpire, isn’t it hard and scary enough to call a game without having a nut grab you? And who knows what those traipsing Toronto trespassers would have tried last week had not stadium security seized them.

It’s time to blow the whistle on this trend. Fans, stay sober and in those seats. You’re there to watch the game, cheer and enjoy -- not to participate in any other way. You’re not there to play linesman and scream out a disruptive call, as a spectator did last week at Wimbledon.

For good reason, authorities are cracking down on unruly spectators. The Chicago White Sox have teamed up with Illinois lawmakers to raise the penalties for stadium trespassing. And teams are pushing for the maximum punishments for offenders under existing laws; in Los Angeles, the city attorney’s office wants to punish the man who ran onto the Dodger Stadium field in May with a six-month jail term and a $1,000 fine. Nationwide, teams are beefing up security, hiring off-duty police, curtailing sales of beer and making sure that ushers keep ticket-holders in their seats.

These steps should help. And if the sports-frenzied don’t get it already, the authorities are ready to whap them with a legal bat if they get out of line. The unruly deserve it for their unsportsmanlike conduct.