A baseball fan faces charges, including trespassing and assault, after police say he ran onto the field Saturday and threw beer into the Rays' dugout in protest of the team's recent trip to Cuba.
After climbing a wall beside the Rays' dugout during the seventh inning of their spring training game in Bradenton, Fla., the man, believed to be in his 60s, ran in front of the dugout, yelled something in Spanish and threw containers of beer and soda at players, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The man was of Cuban descent, according to the Times.
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"It was a Cuba thing,'' Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi said, according to the Times. "I don't speak Spanish too well. ... I think it was a Cuban person, frustrated about the politics of it, I guess. He threw two beer cans. Nobody got hit. Nobody did anything. Maybe some guys got wet. It was a Cuba thing.''
Rays third-base coach Charlie Montoyo subdued the man until police arrived from nearby.
"I just saw him throwing stuff to the dugout and then I realized his age so I was just holding him and I was telling him. I realized he speaks Spanish, telling him to relax,'' Montoyo said, according to the Times. "I didn't hear what he was yelling, I just saw the two things and then I was holding him. He smelled like beer or rum or something. ... To me it was an old person drunk so I felt bad for him.''
The Rays played the Cuban national team in an exhibition this week in Havana as part of an historic U.S. goodwill tour. While many celebrated the event, others — particularly those of Cuban descent — took offense that President Barack Obama and the Rays would visit Cuba with its controversial Communist regime still in power.
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Rays infielder Taylor Motter said Saturday's incident was worrisome.
"It just scares me,'' he said. "If it was or wasn't related to Cuba or it was or wasn't related to MLB, I still feel like security should have been there a little more knowing that we're on the map a little bit. But they did a good job coming to get him as quickly as possible.''
Bradenton police did not release the man's name.
