A brief history of fans doing stupid things at baseball games

The Phillies fan who was ejected from Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday for heckling umpire Bob Davidson joined a long line of infamous characters who've been put in the spotlight for doing stupid things at baseball games.

And no, not all of them were from Philadelphia.

Here are a few other nominees for inclusion in the Hall of Shame.

September 19, 2002: William Ligue Jr. and William Ligue III

So there you are, minding your own business as the Kansas City Royals' first base coach at the stadium then known as New Comiskey Park. All of a sudden, two crazed men come charging out of the stands at you.

That's what happened to Tom Gamboa that night at the White Sox' home. Here's what the Chicago Tribune wrote at the time:

William Ligue Jr. may well have gone to the ballgame to try to get away from his troubles, which his sister says have become abundant.

But by the time he left Thursday night's White Sox-Kansas City Royals game at Comiskey Park, Ligue had added to his woes exponentially. 

The 34-year-old Alsip man, who took two sons, two nephews and one of their girlfriends out to the ballgame, faces a Saturday bond court hearing after being charged with aggravated battery for charging the field and attacking Royals first-base coach Tom Gamboa. 

His 15-year-old son is to appear in Cook County Juvenile Court on Monday, charged with aggravated battery against the coach and aggravated battery against a non-uniformed Illinois state trooper who was providing ballpark security.

Because the ballgame was televised, images of Ligue and his 15-year-old son, both shirtless and pummeling Gamboa, have been shown dozens of times on myriad TV news and sports telecasts nationwide. In most cases the footage also showed father and son being set upon by a swarm of angry Royals rushing to the defense of the 54-year-old coach.

October 14, 2003: Steve Bartman

You don't have to be a Cubs fan, or even a baseball fan, to know this one.

The Cubs led the Marlins 3-0 in the eighth inning of what would have been the decisive sixth game of the National League Championship Series. Florida's Luis Castillo hit a pop fly to shallow left field. As the ball tracked toward foul territory, Moisés Alou went to catch it. As Alou jumped at the wall, Bartman - a devout Cubs fan - leaned over the railing and snatched the ball before Alou could catch it.

As every denizen of Wrigleyville knows all too well, the Cubs went on to surrender eight runs before the inning ended. The Marlins won the game, took the pennant in Game 7, and went on to win the World Series.

August 12, 2009: Shane Victorino

We return to the North Side for an incident that even many Phillies fans thought was over the top.

When Shane Victorino tracked down a fly ball hit by the Cubs' Jake Fox to left-center field, an enterprising Cubs fan threw his beer cup at the Phillies folk hero.

Victorino took exception, as well he should have. And as you'll see in the video clip below, the perpetrator wasn't shy about letting the world know what he did.

June 4, 2016: Ryan Howard

This one was the definition of tasteless. Not only did a Phillies fan throw a beer bottle toward Ryan Howard, the beer in question was Bud Light Lime.

Howard's reaction, as reported by Matt Breen:

"If you're in the street and you do that to somebody, you might get hauled off... But we're supposed to hold ourselves to a different standard and whatnot. Somebody has to do something. Somebody should get reprimanded for it. Because if I would've done something, if I would've went into the stands and tried to beat this dude up, I would've gotten in trouble by Major League Baseball. He probably would've tried to sue me. But it's OK for him to throw a bottle and then go home and be on his merry way? Nah, that doesn't work."

A week and a half later, the bottle-thrower was identified as 21-year-old University of Delaware student Sidney Smith.