Braves' Diaz trips up fan on field

Braves leftfielder Matt Diaz first saw the idiot out of the corner of his right eye.

It was the bottom of the seventh inning and a fan dressed all in red jumped onto the Citizens Bank Park field right near leftfield where Diaz patrolled. Diaz, a bull of a guy at 6-1, 215 pounds, once saw such stupidity result in a serious injury and wasn't going to let that happen again.

After a brief chase by security guards, Diaz assisted by tripping the fan.

"I thought he was coming at me, so I was ready," Diaz said. "Then I saw their security guy [fall] and it reminded me when Josh went down and got knocked out. I thought 'This is dangerous.' "

Diaz was referring to a 2007 incident in which Turner Field security guard Josh Garner was injured in a similar incident. Garner lay on the ground for more than 10 minutes before eventually walking off to get treatment for a head injury.

"When [the fan] came back - I didn't want to get hurt and I didn't want to hurt him - I just stuck out my foot," Diaz said. "He got back up, but their security guy crushed him. I was glad no one got hurt."

The mood of the Phillies fans in the leftfield stands behind Diaz changed after the incident, he said.

"They were very complimentary," he said. "It was funny. [I heard] everything from 'I just put you on YouTube' to a girl with an 'Utley marry me' sign, saying, 'I'll marry you, too.' "

Said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, a neighbor of Diaz' in Florida: "He'll be telling me about that all winter. He took him down pretty quickly. He might get a flag in football if he did that."

The unruly fan was being processed by police overnight and was not identified.

Said Diaz: "I'm sure the judge will find out his identity." *

- Ed Barkowitz