Nearly three weeks of vitriol and violence came to a head today as the Yellow Springs Nine front office, and the city’s leadership collaborated on a defense net that blocked the radical outrage of the Fan First supporter collective. The operation included police intervention at the turnstiles themselves, and the use of several rooms of the downtown civic center as temporary jailhouse space. The last leg was a plea from general manager Ron Collins to “the good fans of our town” to rise up and fill the streets with the power of our fandom and tell these people that they cannot not win.”
The result was a million or more people in the street, and forty-five members of the Fan First brigade being put behind bars.
The game afterward was played before a full house that watched the Nine take a wild 9-8 victory from the Omaha Hawks to extend their record to 16-8—good enough to stay in a dead heat with the resurgent Madison Wolves at the top of the Heartland division. The highlight of the evening though had to be the rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” that played during the seventh inning stretch, and that was voiced acapella by the entire attending population.
“It was an emotional game,” said catcher Aaron Stone after the game. He had delivered a key double during a 5-run second inning. “The players hate to see what’s happened, but it’s good to see the team and the people around the city responding in such a positive way.”
The team clubbed three doubles during the game to go with homers by Dong-po Thum and rookie shortstop Luis Pena.
CLUB DONATES
Before the game, Nine Owner Bo Jordan announced the team had paid for the additional prisoner retention space, and that medical bills that fans had incurred after being beaten by the Fan First collective would be addressed. “As an ex-player, you can trust me when I say that I know that our fans are the most important people we have,” Jordan said in a released statement. “It’s sickening to me to see a radical wing try to change who we are, and we’ll do whatever we need to make sure Utopia Field is exactly that.”
The team also announced that Sunday afternoon’s game would be “Law Enforcement Day” to celebrate the bravery of the uniformed police who were part of the solution. Jordan and several of the team’s corporate sponsors will be hosting officers in their private suites.
While some pundits are still questioning why it took the team nearly three weeks to respond to the Fan First ire, others note that the commitment to long-term change seems to be firm.
OTHER TEAMS WILLING TO CONTRIBUTE
Jordan also took a moment to thank leadership of other teams around the league, some offering condolences, other offering either their own brand of solutions or, in the case of Chicago owner Vinnie Vitale, offering support in the form of arm-wrestling a financial officer or two.
“It was great to see camaraderie like that,” Jordan said.
The future is always uncertain, and there still exist concerns that the harsh underbelly of the team’s fandom could rise again, but, for now, all seems quiet on the Utopian front.
