Anthony Rendon wanted the smoke pic.twitter.com/6GUbaVIPTw
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) March 31, 2023
Matt Kawahara
San Francisco Chronicle
Major League Baseball said it is looking into a confrontation between Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon and a fan after the Oakland Athletics’ game against the Angels at the Coliseum on Thursday night.
A 12-second video clip posted on social media shows Rendon grabbing the fan by the shirt and swiping and missing at the fan’s face while leaving the field with the Angels after the Opening Night game.
“You called me a b—, huh?” Rendon is heard saying. “Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did.”
The Angels did not have a comment on the video Friday but indicated Rendon is expected to address the incident before Saturday’s game. The A’s also did not have a comment Friday.
An MLB spokesperson said of the incident that, “We are aware of the video and we are now looking into the matter.”
The A’s and Angels had an off-day after Thursday’s season opener before resuming their series Saturday.
Such fan-player incidents are rare, but in 2004 at the Coliseum an altercation between fans in the stands and Rangers players led to Texas pitcher Frank Francisco throwing a chair into the stands, resulting in a fan suffering a broken nose. Security failures at the Coliseum have also cropped up. In 2017, the A’s banned a sub-contracted security guard who attacked a fan in the stands during a game, and last season fans apparently engaged in a sexual act in the sparsely-attended stadium.
Reach Matt Kawahara: mkawahara@sfchronicle.com
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