ESPN Los Angeles’ Tim Keowan says something that I’ve been thinking since Sunday when I watched the Giants-Cardinals game and heard the broadcasters talking about how baseball rivalries shouldn’t be taken so seriously. And last night when the Dodgers and Giants players implored fans to keep their animosity limited to the action on the field. Here’s Keown:
I contend this is a sports story only because it occurred outside a ballpark. The two men who beat Stow are thugs first, baseball fans second. Their motivation had nothing to do with sports; Stow’s Giants jersey was merely the avenue they chose to display their subhuman tendencies. They went after him because he was there; his affiliation to the Giants was just the excuse.
This thing wasn’t about a rivalry. It was about criminals doing criminal things in a baseball setting. Anyone who can understand the appeal to keep baseball rivalries civil aren’t in need of the message. Likewise, the people who would beat up someone in a parking lot are immune to reason.
