Trending: Will fans’ behaviour negatively impact how Toronto is perceived?
Posted October 15, 2015 4:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When Toronto wins, Toronto wins ugly.
At least that’s the perception of some following the Toronto Blue Jays’ Game 5 victory over the Texas Rangers Wednesday night.
“Shame on everyone involved if they fail to learn from Wednesday’s unfortunate turn of events,” wrote Fox Sports analyst Ken Rosenthal. “Everyone needs to clean it up. Blue Jays fans. Blue Jays management. Major League Baseball. Everyone.”
In the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game, a controversial call gave the visiting Rangers a 3-2 lead in the game. Fans at Rogers Centre reacted by throwing beer cans and garbage onto the field. A baby was hit by the spray from a thrown beer can. One fan was arrested for that incident, and a reported 39 fans were ejected from the game.
According to Rosenthal, the Rangers were close to pulling their team off the field and Major League officials were close to ordering both teams into their dugouts.
And, according to unconfirmed reports, Major League Baseball had even discussed forfeiting the game.
“What happens if another disputed call goes against the Jays?” Rosenthal asks of the upcoming ALCS series against the Kansas City Royals. “Will fans trash the field again?”
The fact of the matter is the fan reaction during the game isn’t unique to Toronto. In Atlanta in 2012 and Boston in 1999, fans trashed the field after controversial calls. And there have been a number of incidents of fan rage in parking lots and subway terminals following games, let alone fans flipping cars and vandalizing storefronts following championship victories.
“Quite frankly, I think it was an emotional reaction to a call on the field,” said Mario Coutinho, Blue Jays vice-president of stadium operations. “It was not the normal behaviour of fans in Toronto. They’re pretty docile, for the most part. But passion is running pretty high now. Unfortunately, they reacted. You can’t prepare for something like that.”
But as Const. Wendy Drummond accurately tweeted during Wednesday night’s game, “The actions you take will not affect the outcome of the game, only effect the perception of #Toronto. Keep classy Toronto. #FanEtiquette.”
And really, that’s the message here. Toronto did a fantastic job hosting the Pan Am Games this summer, and it has distanced itself from its headline-grabbing, former crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford. It has begun rebuilding its international reputation as a great city, which shouldn’t be erased by the bad behaviour of a few dozen alcohol-fuelled fans at the Rogers Centre, regardless of the circumstances.
Torontonians are better than that.
