‘Criminal in any other setting’: do fans pose a threat to NBA and MLB stars?

As April drew to a close, Cleveland Guardians outfielders had to deal with a few unusual problems during their team’s visit to Yankee Stadium. But it wasn’t flyballs caught in the swirling winds over the Bronx, or the power of sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge that were unsettling them. Instead, they found themselves pelted with garbage by fans. Cleveland right fielder Oscar Mercado’s most significant catch of the game was intercepting a beer can that had been thrown at his head. The situation became so bad that at one point Judge and Stanton had to jog over to placate their own fans.

“Brutal,” Guardians outfielder Myles Straw said after the game. “Worst fanbase on the planet.”

Straw’s anger is understandable, but the behavior of Yankees fans (and there were more ugly scenes in New York this weekend) is far from an aberration. In the NBA, stars such as Luka Doncic, Draymond Green, Kyrie Irving, and Chris Paul have all been involved in verbal altercations with fans during this year’s playoffs. And several animal rights protestors stormed the court during multiple games as the Minnesota Timberwolves faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the postseason. In the NHL, threats made against Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri this weekend were deemed severe enough for the police to investigate.

The problem is not limited to the US either. In the UK, Sheffield United’s Billy Sharp was left bloodied after a fan headbutted him during a pitch invasion at Nottingham Forest. The fan was arrested and will serve 24 weeks in jail. There have been allegations of a similar incident during Manchester City’s Premier League title celebrations on Sunday.

“If you look at the amount of security that is at a