Johnny Macchione should have drank that last beer. Thatās ironic, because had he gotten drunker, he wouldnāt be in the mess he is now.
Macchione sobered up enough Thursday to say he what he did to Phillie outfielder Shane Victorino āwas a big mistakeā when just two nights ago he saw fit to dump a full cupās contents of beer on him. Funny what sobriety and the wrath of millions of baseball fans will do to your perspective.
Johnny M apologized to the Cubs team too. āChicago Cubs, Iām sorry I disgraced youā. Part of me wonders if heās really enjoying his notoriety. Check his My Space page, stat!
All the apologies in the world arenāt going to get Macchione out of trouble, though. Heās being charged with two misdemeanors; battery and illegal conduct within a sports facility.
Kudos to Victorino who not only CAUGHT the ball amidst the splattered rain of beer, he is also saying the right things now. Heās not holding it against the fans of Wrigley (Ozzie Guillen, are you paying attention?):
"No, I love playing here. I love the atmosphere. I love the way they go about the game."
Reading some blog comments and forums, Iām seeing some backlash especially from Cub fans who think that the reaction to what Macchione did is āover-reactingā pointing to incidents in the parks.
a) something that happened elsewhere, at another time does not make this right
b) the fact that Victorino did not get hurt also does not make it right
c) stop making excuses
I donāt think anyone reading this will take issue with me on this but the basic problem here is respect for the game of baseball. That problem permeates on all levels, management, players, and fans.
When you see a fan who thinks itās okay to dump a beer on a player simply because he is there or because he on the other team or because the players are there for our āentertainmentā, that is a prime example when a fan has lost respect for the game of baseball.
