No peace for Big Piece: Who threw beer bottle at Ryan Howard?
Police and Phillies officials were trying Monday to identify the fan who tossed a beer bottle toward Ryan Howard after the slugger grounded out to end Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.
Police and Phillies officials were trying Monday to identify the fan who tossed a beer bottle toward Ryan Howard after the slugger grounded out to end Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia police described the incident as a disorderly conduct case, and said the person who threw the aluminum Bud Light Lime bottle toward the Phillies first baseman was a white man between the ages of 30 and 35 with a medium build and reddish-brown hair.
The man was wearing a blue Phillies hat with a red brim, a gray Phillies shirt with red lettering, and faded red shorts, police said.
An image of the suspected bottle tosser was widely circulated on social media Monday. Sal DeAngelis, director of operations and security for the Phillies, said Monday that another fan shot the photograph and posted it online. Team officials believed the man in the photo was the beer tosser, DeAngelis said, adding that the team was working with police to identify him.
The man threw the bottle toward Howard about 6:30 p.m. as the struggling player walked to the dugout after making the final out in the team's 6-3 loss to the Brewers. It landed near his feet but did not hit him.
The fan left the game without being stopped or ejected by security, police said.
Howard alerted a security guard at the ballpark to the incident, and the team reported it to police early Sunday afternoon, officials said.
The player - whose former manager Charlie Manuel nicknamed him the Big Piece because of his value to the team - called the bottle-throwing "uncalled for."
"Whether you change oil, whether you work at a grocery store or whatever, if somebody came in and threw a beer bottle at you or something like that, you'd be upset," he said Monday. "I definitely do take it personally."
He added that he appreciated the support of fans condemning the alleged thrower, and that "it's the bad apples that kind of give the town a bad rap."
DeAngelis said that although fans sometimes throw home run balls hit by the opposing team back onto the field, it's rare for people to toss objects toward players or others on the diamond.
It has happened, of course: In 1999, fans at Veterans Stadium tossed batteries at St. Louis Cardinals outfielder J.D. Drew, who had refused to sign with the Phillies when they drafted him.
And this spring, just across Pattison Avenue, Flyers fans tossed glow-in-the-dark wristbands onto the ice at the Wells Fargo Center to display their apparent distaste for the referees. The officials then issued a delay-of-game penalty against the Flyers.
But DeAngelis said Philadelphia sports fans are generally courteous and respectful.
"Our fans are typically great when they come to our games," he said.
215-854-2817 @cs_palmer
Staff writer Matt Gelb contributed to this article.