September 30, 2004

Street Talk by Kymberli W. Brady

How do you feel about the conduct of both the fans and the players in light of a recent melee, where Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco threw a chair into the stands and injured 41-year-old Livermore resident Jennifer Bueno during a game at the Oakland Coliseum—a reaction that followed comments made by her husband Craig Bueno, a Hayward Fire Department battalion chief?
(Asked at the Almaden Valley Art & Wine Festival)


“It was an unfortunate incident and falls on both. There are rules of civility—treat each other nicely, maintain your composure, and don’t overreact. It comes down to personality and morals—you either don’t let what people say bother you, or you react in a way that you shouldn’t and pay the consequences. It’s always going to hurt your feelings personally, but your level of professionalism has to be above your feelings.”

John Marfia
San Jose
San Jose police officer

“I think it’s a shame that the fans aren’t held partially or equally accountable. They can really incite the players. You would expect that professional baseball players would be able to cope with belligerent activities from fans, but they can certainly be pushed to the limit. It would be right to look at ways to hold fans more accountable for their behavior at sporting events.”

Gary Rummelhoff, 49
Almaden
Trustee candidate for the Santa Clara County Board of Education

“That’s a toughie. I think it’s mostly Francisco’s fault. He’s the one who threw the chair and he took it too personally. I probably would have just tried to ignore it.

Justin Dueck, 11
Almaden
Castillero Middle School student

“I think it was wrong for Francisco to throw a chair. When you’re on the field, you should only be concentrating on what you’re doing, but the people in the audience should concentrate on the game and not the behind-the-scenes stuff too.”

Tracy Trimble, 14
Almaden
Pioneer High School cheerleader

“I think the fans should be able to yell what they want and the players should be able to control what they say and do. Francisco shouldn’t have thrown that chair.”

Zach Spenner, 14
Almaden
Leland High School, freshman football



“Players should abstain from that type of physical anger, especially being in the limelight. That shouldn’t happen with a professional. A lot of people looked up to him and he handled it in a way that was very irresponsible. Seeing that took away from the whole game.”

Ray Cruz, 48
Almaden
Construction