Victorino Beer Incident is Black Mark for Cubs Fans

Shane Victorino had beer thrown on him just as Victorino was getting over his last bizarre incident. The Victorino beer throwing was much more dangerous than Victorino's controversial ejection on Sunday, however. Shane Victorino had beer poured on him by a Chicago Cubs fan who was hardly going to affect the outcome. He threw beer on Victorino to try and stop him from catching a fly ball that was going to score a run anyway - and make the source merely 12-3 in favor of the Phillies.

The Shane Victorino beer debacle came in the middle of a game that was already well in hand. The Phillies-Cubs showdown was hyped up as Pedro Martinez's first game for the Phillies, and the Phillies helped him by scoring 12 runs by the fifth inning.

The Victorino beer incident happened in the fifth, as Martinez was trying to work out of a bases loaded jam. Jake Fox hit a long fly to center, which was going to score one run at least, and make the score 12-3.

But a front row Cubs fan used beer to try and get more, throwing his beer cup at Victorino to stop him from catching it. Victorino did catch it anyway, though most of the beer did land on him. Initially, Cubs security ejected the wrong man for the beer throwing, though they went back and got the real culprit later.

Pouring beer on Shane Victorino puts Victorino back in the spotlight for bizarre reasons, for the second time in four days. This past Sunday, Victorino was controversially ejected from center field in the seventh inning of the Phillies-Marlins game. In this case, the Victorino beer throwing is a bit more troubling, due to fan misbehavior.

The Chicago Cubs pride themselves on their "lovable loser" image for themselves, and for their fans. But the Cubs fans have occasionally been less than lovable over the years - and this is hardly the first time a fan interfered with a game at Wrigley Field.

Yet although Steve Bartman may have stopped the Cubs from going to the World Series, this fan did more to try and hurt an opposing player - though fortunately he just threw a plastic cup.

Since the fan poured beer on Victorino during a lopsided Cubs loss, and since Fox would have been called out due to fan interference anyway, it only looks more worse and stupid. The Cubs themselves were humiliated enough by an eight-run Phillies fourth inning, and by Pedro Martinez winning his first game in almost a year, as the Cubs fell further back in the NL Central.

Security will probably keep a closer eye on the front row today as the Cubs try to avoid being swept by the Phillies and Victorino this afternoon.

Sources

MLB.com- "Beer hazard: Soaked Victorino snares fly" mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp

Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest- "Watch Shane Victorino's Beer Shower" nybaseballdigest.com/