Red Sox fan’s family upset about ejection
Wrong side of the call
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By Steve Buckley | Thursday, August 14, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Red Sox
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Photo by Mark Garfinkel
<!--//article Image//--><!--//article//-->The Red Sox [team stats] are sticking with their story that they were justified in ejecting a 16-year-old Waltham teen from Fenway Park [map] Tuesday night for what they believe was interference with a ball hit to the center field bleachers by slugger David Ortiz [stats].
In the fifth inning of the Sox’ wild 19-17 victory against the Texas Rangers, Ortiz - who already had hit two home runs in the game - sent a shot to center. Falzone, who was seated in the front row of Section 35, wound up with the ball after it had popped out of the glove of another fan who was seated nearby.
The other fan, 14-year-old Eli Norris of Hanover, agreed that he tried to glove the ball on top of the wall, but that it glanced off the side of his mitt, with Falzone getting it on the rebound.
But the umpiring crew working the game saw it differently. Believing a fan reached over the wall and grabbed the ball when it was still in play, Ortiz was credited with a fan-interference double. He wound up scoring on a home run by Kevin Youkilis [stats].
Once fan interference was called, Fenway Park security officials sought out Falzone and ejected him from the park. He was with two female friends, Alex Guelli and Olivia Creonte, both 16 and from Waltham.
A Red Sox official said Fenway Park security chief Charles Cellucci “saw the replay four times” and determined that Falzone had interfered with the play. The Sox official said Cellucci saw Falzone “reach for the ball with his glove.”
However, it was Norris, not Falzone, who had a glove. Norris was not ejected. Replays from NESN are inconclusive. The Red Sox said Cellucci was not available for comment.
While Falzone spent most of yesterday doing media interviews, his mother, Terry Falzone, was left to wonder why the Red Sox would toss a 16-year-old out to the street in the middle of a game.
“We’re all Red Sox fans right from the start,” she said. “That’s not going to change. And Steven said the security people treated him with respect. They even asked him if he had a ride home. But I’m very disappointed they they would put a 16-year-old out on Lansdowne Street.
“People are out there on the street drinking,” she said. “What if some drunk had said, ‘Oh, you’re the kid who caught that ball,’ and a fight had started? If some fan had beat him up out there on the street, we’d be having a different conversation right now. I don’t know why they couldn’t have had them wait in an office until I could pick them up.”
Members of the Falzone family contacted the Red Sox yesterday asking that they offer tickets to another game, but the request was denied.
“They called back and said if they did anything, it would undermine the umpires,” Steven Falzone said.
Terry Falzone, however, wasn’t satisfied.
“This is the first year we’ve let him go to Red Sox games with someone older being with him,” she said. “One of the girls’ cousins was supposed to pick them up. Tickets are really hard to get, and this was going to be a big night for them. And he gets thrown out of one of the most exciting games of the year.
“I saw it on TV,” she said. “I said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s my Steven.’ I finally got him on his cell phone, and I told him to stay there until I drove in and got them.”
With his ejection from Fenway Park having been reported in yesterday’s Herald, Falzone was busy hearing from Sox fans, friends and media types.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” he said. “I’ve had newspapers come to my house. I’ve done radio interviews. Everyone wants to know what happened.”
If the ball landed on top of the wall - as Norris, Falzone and other fans in Section 35 attest - Falzone and his friends were wrongly evicted from Fenway Park because of an incorrect call by the umpires.
But even if the ball was in play, it’s likely Falzone was still wrongly ejected from the park. Both Falzone and Norris agree that it was Norris, wearing the glove, who had first contact with the ball. Falzone merely collected the rebound.
If nothing else, Falzone has a keepsake from his Fenway adventure - the ball hit by Ortiz.
“It’s something I’ll always cherish,” he said. “Someday, I’m going to get him to sign it for me.”
Wrong side of the call
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By Steve Buckley | Thursday, August 14, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Red Sox
<!--//Byline box end//--><!--//article Image//-->
Photo by Mark Garfinkel
<!--//article Image//--><!--//article//-->The Red Sox [team stats] are sticking with their story that they were justified in ejecting a 16-year-old Waltham teen from Fenway Park [map] Tuesday night for what they believe was interference with a ball hit to the center field bleachers by slugger David Ortiz [stats].
In the fifth inning of the Sox’ wild 19-17 victory against the Texas Rangers, Ortiz - who already had hit two home runs in the game - sent a shot to center. Falzone, who was seated in the front row of Section 35, wound up with the ball after it had popped out of the glove of another fan who was seated nearby.
The other fan, 14-year-old Eli Norris of Hanover, agreed that he tried to glove the ball on top of the wall, but that it glanced off the side of his mitt, with Falzone getting it on the rebound.
But the umpiring crew working the game saw it differently. Believing a fan reached over the wall and grabbed the ball when it was still in play, Ortiz was credited with a fan-interference double. He wound up scoring on a home run by Kevin Youkilis [stats].
Once fan interference was called, Fenway Park security officials sought out Falzone and ejected him from the park. He was with two female friends, Alex Guelli and Olivia Creonte, both 16 and from Waltham.
A Red Sox official said Fenway Park security chief Charles Cellucci “saw the replay four times” and determined that Falzone had interfered with the play. The Sox official said Cellucci saw Falzone “reach for the ball with his glove.”
However, it was Norris, not Falzone, who had a glove. Norris was not ejected. Replays from NESN are inconclusive. The Red Sox said Cellucci was not available for comment.
While Falzone spent most of yesterday doing media interviews, his mother, Terry Falzone, was left to wonder why the Red Sox would toss a 16-year-old out to the street in the middle of a game.
“We’re all Red Sox fans right from the start,” she said. “That’s not going to change. And Steven said the security people treated him with respect. They even asked him if he had a ride home. But I’m very disappointed they they would put a 16-year-old out on Lansdowne Street.
“People are out there on the street drinking,” she said. “What if some drunk had said, ‘Oh, you’re the kid who caught that ball,’ and a fight had started? If some fan had beat him up out there on the street, we’d be having a different conversation right now. I don’t know why they couldn’t have had them wait in an office until I could pick them up.”
Members of the Falzone family contacted the Red Sox yesterday asking that they offer tickets to another game, but the request was denied.
“They called back and said if they did anything, it would undermine the umpires,” Steven Falzone said.
Terry Falzone, however, wasn’t satisfied.
“This is the first year we’ve let him go to Red Sox games with someone older being with him,” she said. “One of the girls’ cousins was supposed to pick them up. Tickets are really hard to get, and this was going to be a big night for them. And he gets thrown out of one of the most exciting games of the year.
“I saw it on TV,” she said. “I said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s my Steven.’ I finally got him on his cell phone, and I told him to stay there until I drove in and got them.”
With his ejection from Fenway Park having been reported in yesterday’s Herald, Falzone was busy hearing from Sox fans, friends and media types.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” he said. “I’ve had newspapers come to my house. I’ve done radio interviews. Everyone wants to know what happened.”
If the ball landed on top of the wall - as Norris, Falzone and other fans in Section 35 attest - Falzone and his friends were wrongly evicted from Fenway Park because of an incorrect call by the umpires.
But even if the ball was in play, it’s likely Falzone was still wrongly ejected from the park. Both Falzone and Norris agree that it was Norris, wearing the glove, who had first contact with the ball. Falzone merely collected the rebound.
If nothing else, Falzone has a keepsake from his Fenway adventure - the ball hit by Ortiz.
“It’s something I’ll always cherish,” he said. “Someday, I’m going to get him to sign it for me.”
