[pico]

does that considered fan interference?

[onlooker]

No. If its out of play, its fair game for the fans. If it was still in play, then it would be interference.

That ball was out of play.

[Stumpage]

Mathis was pissed, but Onlooker's right, that ball was completely up for grabs...Stephen King was right in there as well, but the kid got it...

[Seattle Slew]

I'm a Red Sox fan, but the fan's play was critical. That easily should have been an out, but technically it was in the stands, so the fan could basically punch the catcher and get away with it.

What's worse is TBS showing that punk 20 times for the rest of the night acting like he did something special. Sickening behavior, but that's the standard at these sporting events.

[pico]

BOSTON -- As fan interference goes, Danny Vinik is more Jeffrey Maier than Steve Bartman.

Vinik reached over the temporary photographers' box in front of the stands and kept Los Angeles Angels catcher Jeff Mathis from catching Manny Ramirez's foul pop on Friday night. He did not reach into the field of play, making it a legal move.

Ramirez stayed at the plate and drew a walk to load the bases before Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly tied it at 3.


"Everybody was giving me high-fives," Vinik told a crowd of about 20 reporters who interviewed him under the stands near the entrance to the Red Sox clubhouse. One of the well-wishers was horror-meister Stephen King, sitting behind him and one seat over.

The 17-year-old fan said he got 15-20 calls on his cell phone, and while he was talking to reporters other fans congratulated him, saying, "That's the kid. Way to go. Nice play."

One man called him "The anti-Bartman" and gave him a high-five.

Bartman was cursed by Cubs fans in 2003 after deflecting a foul popup away from Moises Alou with Chicago just five outs away from the World Series. Maier was the 12-year-old New York Yankees fan who reached over the outfield wall in the 1996 playoffs and caught Derek Jeter's homer away from Tony Tarasco.

Vinik, who said he had heard of Bartman, gave his name to a photographer, but identified himself only by his first name when reporters interviewed him. Red Sox spokesman John Blake could not immediately confirm Vinik's possible relationship to team part-owner Jeffrey Vinik, a hedge fund manager who once ran Fidelity's mammoth Magellan Fund.

"My dad has season tickets," Vinik said. "I come a lot." Mathis, who punched the air in frustration, would have had a better play at the ball if not for the photographers' boxes added in front of the first row of seats down the first- and third-base lines for the playoffs.

[alta]

That was a sweet play by the kid if you're a Sox fan.

[HAPPY BOY]

I love Bartman he is my hero! Sad when I think how good the Marlins would be right now. Unfortunely the way MLB is in there lack of profit sharing and unlimited payroll structure we have become a farm system for NY, Chicago etc. It's amazing we won it all in 2003 with the payroll we had. Thats why my dick gets hard when teams like the Yanks get bounced.