Down by the left-field foul pole, this Dodgers-Phillies encounter turned ugly around the fourth inning and eighth beer.
"It was pretty intense," said Dan Pike, 28, a Las Vegas resident and Phillies fan who was tormented for much of Monday's playoff game at Dodger Stadium by two brew-bleary home-team supporters sitting behind him.
He endured pushing, shoving and obscene taunts, along with a seat soaking by strategically spilled Buds whenever he stood to cheer.
"After about eight beers, they were getting a little physical," said Pike, whose misery ended only when security officers hauled off the pair.
Dodgers fans have long been known for their arrive-late-and-leave-early insouciance. Lately, they have struggled to shake a newer reputation for intemperance.
Many say it's largely undeserved, and there is no disputing that security at the stadium has been up and arrests down. But even as they celebrate this season's trip to the National League Championship Series -- an unexpected run that could end with tonight's Game 5 at the stadium -- the Dodgers faithful remain blue over a perceived rise in booze-fueled hooliganism, a problem that team spokesman Charles Steinberg conceded "is not solved."
"It is a high priority," Steinberg said Tuesday. "It breaks your heart when the smallest of numbers seem to ruin it for some people."
He added Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are "focused" on ridding the stands of trouble-makers.
"It's a family ownership and they want a family environment," Steinberg said. "You don't throw your hands in the air, and say, 'Oh well?' "
At Monday's game, the Dodgers security staff had its hands full, especially in the late innings, as blood-alcohol levels climbed. Much of the unwanted action was at the "hot corners" -- the stands near the foul poles -- and in the outfield pavilions.
"People are rowdy," said Jose Sanchez, 35, of Burbank, who had just witnessed a scuffle between two men; both were ejected. "There are no limits to what they can say or do."
A few rows away, Steve Goss, 52, said: "I saw two fights already because people were wearing red."
The Buena Park resident pointed at a friend wearing a Phillies shirt. "I've got to stay with him to make sure he's OK," Goss said. "It's a small minority, but I've noticed it's gotten nastier."
Such sentiments frustrate Los Angeles Police Capt. William Murphy. He noted Dodgers management arranged for the now-routine uniformed police patrols after several violent incidents in 2004 and 2005.
