Phillies fans on Taser: Yes, no, maybe so

On the way from the subway to the stadium Tuesday night, a throng of red-shirted Phillies fans were stopped by two security guards, posted at one of the parking lot entrances.

"Hold up," the guards said. "Let the cars pass."

When the restless crowd was finally allowed to continue on, the guards commiserated about how tough their job can be.

"They should give us tasers," one said.

The other laughed, "Oh yeah!"

On an excellent night for a game, a prosyletizer set up his station across from the third base entrance and preaching through a bullhorn warned the fans about an eternity in hell. The sun warmed the stadium, the air was fragrant with cotton candy and burgers. Scalpers thumbed off bills from thick wads of cash, parents herded their children through the turnstiles and most of the talk was focused on Tuesday's game.

But opinions about Monday night's tasering simmered just below the surface.

"I thought he deserved to get tasered," said Tiffany Breen, a 23-year-old student at the University of Phoenix. Breen, who has worked part-time at Phillies games for the last three years escorting fans to their seats, said people jump onto the field once or twice a season.

However harmless the pranksters may be, Breen said, these days you can't take chances. "He could have had a gun or a piece of broken glass on him."

She was one section over from where he leaped the barrier, she said, and could see the police officer's arm extended. "I knew it wasn't a gun and I could see the orange and green at the end of it, so I knew it was a taser. Lots of people were laughing. Some thought it was a joke."

Breen said she laughed too, at first, but now doesn't see the humor in it. "He should have listened to his father. He should have been smarter than that."

Fran Yannatell, 20, watched in shock as the scene unfolded on television. "It seemed a little excessive, but you can't let people do what they want. You gotta have some boundary lines."

Since the interlopers are looking for attention, Joe Albano, a state worker from Delaware, thinks the less the media covers these guys, the better. "I think tasing will deter people more from running on the field, but I can't imagine watching someone going down, being electrocuted," said Albano as he unwrapped a broccoli rabe and roast pork sandwich and waited for the game start. "Especially with all the kids in the stadium watching, it was maybe not such a good thing."

Settling into prime seats behind home plate, (courtesy of a co-worker), Russel Steele Sr. a 50-year-old contractor from Browns Mills, N.J., said he thought the taser was unwarranted.

He remembers, he said, when a woman used to rush onto the field and kiss her favorite players. "That was when things were more innocent," he said. Listening to ESPN, he and his son heard that police in other states have recommended not to taser. "At least not above the waist. It's just common sense."

Steele's son, 11-year-old Russel Jr., concurred. "We heard that people have died from tasers. He could have died."

The standard method of catching people who run on the field is to surround and tackle them, said Hector Delgado, a retired Chrysler worker from Delaware. "I think it was overkill." Delgado was watching from section 131, row 26 on Monday night. "He was just a 17-year-old boy. Be for real. They didn't need to do that. He wasn't threatening anyone.