Bleacher Bums On the Prowl

March 10, 1999

Originally Published By The State Hornet (Sacramento State)

BLEACHER BUMS ON THE PROWL

By Mark Bryant

Enter the left field vicinity at your own risk if you are one of the Sac State baseball team's opponents and are unlucky enough to play that spot. You will be in for nine innings of verbal harassment.

More than that, if you were a St. Mary's left fielder during the doubleheader on Feb. 27, which the Hornets swept 9-6 and 7-1, the taunting seemed to already be in mid-season form. The Hornets series against the Gaels was only the third time the Hornets have played at home this season.

Hornet Field has become the hallowed place of the "Bleacher Bums," through they will be quick to tell you this is strictly an informal moniker. They are situated on the sixth floor parking lot garage that overlooks the field.

It is an intimidating presence. And the Bums are brutal to the athletes.

Talk about a Green Monster.

During a game last year against the feared Stanford Cardinal, they got on the poor guy so bad, he returned the bleacher denizens with a one-fingered salute. It was not "We're No. 1," either.

That was the worst thing he could have done. For the rest of the contest, that guy got verbally beat up.

It's not quite Animal House, but it's entertaining, particularly on balmy weekend afternoons which are usually reserved for pelting rain at this time of year.

Rick Gonzalez, the Hornets' left fielder thins any home-field advantage is important, since they're hard to come by.

"Yeah, they're out there, and once in a while, they're pretty loud," Gonzalez said. "They'll give it to me, if I boot a ball or something. It'll be like 'C'mon, Rick, what are you doing?'."

But, more often than not, the sharper heckling is commonly directed at the visitors.

This is definitely not a place to bring kids or people with sensitive ears.

"We try to figure out who we want to yell at the most," frequent Bums' members Chris Bass and Todd Zancaner said. "Sometimes it can take a while, depending on what happens in the game. We like to yell."

It became evident in the Hornet-Gaels contests that the victims were, given the visitors' propensity for turning batted balls into comedy flicks. The Gaels committed five errors in the two games compared to the two errors by the Hornets.

"Lately we've been getting on their shortstop and second baseman, because they suck," Bass said. "They can't stop a ball to save their lives. But seriously, we just like to come out here and heckle the be-Jesus out of whoever's not doing good for the other side. As soon as we find that out, it's time to yell."

Pure speculation here, but the beleaguered Gaels made several lineup changes for game two- maybe because they were so rattled. It didn't help.

Postscript: The next day it was dessert time for St. Mary's as the Hornets were beaten 21-4.

But for one bright day, it was: "Get out the broom- it's a sweep!"