Alex Rios Wronged by Fans

These fans were completely out of line. A kid asking for an autograph is one thing. Asking for an autgraph outside of a sanctioned signing event is obnoxious enough. But when Alex Rios denies the child, he is ruthlessly blasted by the fans.

"You're a bum!" An assertion often shouted from the stands. But when a player is ridiculed about his performance when he's walking to his car is too much. Rios had every right to deny the autograph. The fans had no right to invade his personal space and tell him how to do his job.

When any player or athlete is on the field, court or rink, they are fair game for verbal harassment. Anything that you wouldn't have to go to sensativity training for is acceptable. But the boundary of the fence between the playing field and stands wasn't present in that video.

"You forget where you came from?" That comment can be construed several different ways. Was the fan saying that Rios had forgotten his manners? Or was he referring to his ethnicity? Or to the fact that Toronto has been his second home? That comment is a mystery to me.

But the fact remains, the fans should have been detained for harassment. Rios didn't deserve that, even if he went 0-for-5 with 5 strikeouts that night. Regardless, he apologized for his actions.


--Max Caster