Originally posted by Hoyas Final 4:
nice! i'd actually say this one takes the cake, what's the backstory to it?
Opening night in Anaheim, April 15, 1991. The California Angels were playing the Oakland A's. We had great seats in the second or third row and as the game went on, more of my boys kept coming down, so we had a huge section. The whole game my buddies were egging me to go out on the field. I was the youngest of this group (17-22 year olds) and most susceptible to peer pressure. A few beers back, the game was tied going into the 7th and I made a deal with them that if they pay my fine and give me $200 I'll do it if the game gets out of hand (thinking it wouldn't).
Oakland scores 3 runs in the seventh and took a 5-2 lead. With one out in the 8th, I shocked the group and ran out on the field with no announcement. I slid head first into second and waited.
And waited....
Well, it takes the cops a few seconds to get to second and it's lonely out there (I looked up at Dickie Schofield at short and he didn't seem too pleased). Well, it seemed like minutes to me so I got up, took a short lead and headed to third, blowing past a cop and two security guards, and did a nice belly-flop slide into third, my feet nearly going over my head with the adrenaline. Gary Gaetti chuckled at me (or more likely my slide) and I put my hands behind my head for the cuffs. They cuffed me and dragged me into the dugout and under the stadium. They gave me a hard time, but didn't really rough me up too much (except dragging me down the dugout steps). They tried to call my folks (I was 17), who thankfully weren't home (it happened to be their wedding anniversary and cell phones weren't popular yet), wrote up the arrest paperwork (trespassing fine of nearly $283 at the time) and threw me out of the stadium.
I booked ass home (my family still lives about 1.5 miles from the stadium) and deleted the message the cops left on the answering machine. My boys paid the fine, I got my cash (over time) and petitioned the court to expunge my record when I turned 18. Good times.