New Los Angeles Dodgers owners and Guggenheim Baseball Management partners hold a news conference at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 2, 2012. The franchise's prestige and fan support declined during the stormy ownership tenure of Frank McCourt, who sold the Dodgers for $2 billion to the group fronted by Magic Johnson, headed by Mark Walter and run by Stan Kasten. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (AP)
Baseball has always been one of those sports where passion is shared from generation to generation, parents and grandparents taking children to the ballpark to enjoy a good time.
But just over a year ago, that iconic scenario in Los Angeles came crashing down when a San Francisco Giants fan was beaten to a pulp as he exited the ballpark because of the team he chose to root for.
Bryan Stow, then a 42-years-old, was attacked in the parking lot of Dodgers Stadium by two men in Dodger gear after the season opener.
The beating left Stow in a medically induced coma from the brain damage he suffered.
Today, the 43-year-old is still recuperating at a Northern California clinic because of the violent injuries he received that day.
Tom Girardi, Stow's lawyer, told Fox News Latino that his client is going through a hard time but praised Stow's determination to fight.
"His overall situation is very bad. Going to the bathroom is an issue. Getting him to the bed is an issue. So it's very devastating," Girardi told Fox News Latino. "The bad part of the story is that a lot of times people who are this badly hurt don't have any realization of how badly hurt they are. But I think he does because he has that much intestinal fortitude, you know 'I'm going forward. I'm getting better', so forth."
The Dodgers and Giants met last week for the first time this season with a three-game series.
Fans arriving to Dodger stadium before the first game expressed their concerns about the ugly incident caused by a fanatical few.
Even a year later the Bryan Stow incident has not been forgotten.
Cassandra, a Giants fan from Ventura, California, who was with her boyfriend for Monday night's game, attended the game last March 31 and recalled fans berating and throwing peanuts at her head while she sat and rooted for her favorite team. She said that one Dodgers fan who was on a wheelchair shouted expletive words at her even as she stepped to the side to let him pass. Even with what happened to Stow that day, she still didn't shy from attending a few more Giants-Dodgers games last season.
I wouldn't recommend anyone representing other colors, when they come in and wear anything besides blue.
"I always want to support my team and watch the game, obviously. I definitely stay calm when people yell at me," Cassandra told Fox News Latino. "I don't want to yell back and start a fight or anything. Let them yell at me if they're going to be drunk idiots but I don't retaliate."
Giants reliever Sergio Romo attended games as a kid to cheer on the Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium and remembered fans getting into it at games involving a pair of teams whose rivalry goes back to when they played the Polo Grounds in Harlem and Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn.
The Brawley, California native said fans should be able to attend games without having to be concerned for their own safety.
"The game of baseball is for people to enjoy themselves, so that they can be very happy. It's so that they go to the stadium to see game and have a happy experience. It shouldn't be dangerous. What happened last year doesn't have a place in the game and in life. That's why our franchises have made some adjustments to improve and maintain the peace," Romo told FNL as he sat by his locker.
"You don't expect something like that to happen not only here at a game but in life. There's no place for that in life."
While some fans from the visiting team certainly keep attending the games to pull for the Giants, one follower of the team thought twice about going to the first game between both teams this season.
"Even today I'm meeting friends and I was like you guys will protect me, right? I mean it’s a joke at this point but there is still tension. People take it to extreme," said Caroline from nearby Pasadena.
"It's inappropriate. It's just baseball. They don't own the team. They don't have nothing to do with the players. It's just baseball. Just like any other sport. We're just fans, we're not the players. To me its inappropriate and a total waste of time and money when it gets out of control," Caroline said.
Grant, a Dodgers fan from East L.A., said that while the on-going rivalry between the northern and southern teams is good for the game, he cautioned fans from wearing apparel at Dodger Stadium that eventually would make them stand out as fans of the opposition.
"That's messed up," he told Fox News Latino regarding the incident in the parking lot. "Everywhere you go you have your bad apples. They take their thing for real. I wouldn't recommend anyone representing other colors, when they come in and wear anything besides blue.”
LAPD Captain Bill Murphy, the commanding officer for the Northeast Area that also includes Dodger Stadium, told Fox News Latino in a phone interview that in the past, prior to the Stow incident, officers made their presence felt at select games including Dodgers-Angels and Dodgers-Giants series and were also placed in select parks at Chavez Ravine, the site of the ballpark and parking lots near Dodger Stadium.
"Last year, in the wake of Bryan Stow, we wanted to make sure that we sort of changed the culture a bit. Fans that were going there to drink excessively and created problems and start fights were not welcomed there," Captain Murphy said.
You could spot police in marked bikes and cars patrolling the stadium aslots as fans made their way in and out during the game that Monday night. Some fans were ejected but there were no serious incidents.
Just 30 miles away from Los Angeles in Anaheim, Fox News Latino spotted fans of the Toronto Blue Jays representing their team wearing caps as well as jerseys of some current and retired players at a game at Angels Stadium.
They walked along and were not hassled by any of the Angels fans.
"We want to send a message that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated any longer," Murphy said.
Adry Torres, who has covered MLB, NFL, NBA and NCAA basketball games and related events, is a regular contributor to Fox News Latino. He can be reached at elpiloto137@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @adrytorresnyc
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