Happy Valentine’s Day… Sort of

February 14, 2008   ·   Patrick Hickey, Jr.   ·   Jump to comments

I know it’s Valentine’s Day, but I figured this little gem from last season might put a smile on everyone’s face that doesn’t have anyone to share it with. This was the only article that I wrote last season that I didn’t get published. That’s not bad considering every journalist gets a piece bumped every once in a while. Nonetheless, I thought this was one of the funniest moments of the year and the fact that it was completely avoided by the rest of the press shocked me. Okay, no more talking…enjoy.

Crazed Fan Gives Cyclones a Laugh

The tension on the field during the Cyclones 2-1 extra-inning win on July 25 could have been cut with a knife.

That is until an inebriated fan ran on to the field in the top of the tenth inning and managed to get a laugh out of the entire Cyclones team and the 7,158 other fans in attendance.

Running from the left field stands to the center field wall, the fan originally tried to scale the center field fence in an effort to escape the wrath of Keyspan Park security. When that didn’t work, he made his way into the ‘Clones bullpen.

“I saw a really poor attempt to scale a wall,” said Brooklyn reliever Grady Hinchman. “Obviously in his preliminary plans, the guy forgot to take the height of the wall into consideration. We all thought it was all a skit at first, but when we saw him miss the jump, we saw security running after him and knew it was serious.”

Getting ready to make his warm-up tosses in the pen, Hinchman was thrust into action and with the help of his fellow relievers, a plan was concocted to take the crazed fan down.

“My initial plan was to throw him a right cross and take him down for the security guys,” he said. “But instead, we let him in and locked the gate leading to the clubhouse. Then security came and he gave up with no struggle. He had nowhere to go.”

Rather than hold any feelings of hostility against the fan, Hinchman believes that in his own way, he helped the Cyclones come out victorious that night.

“Something like that happening that late in the game, with the game tied like that was great comic relief,” said Hinchman. It allowed us to get our focus back and take a breath in a tight game.”

Photo for this piece was taken by Conroy Walker.