The Brawl in the Palace has reached it’s 5 year anniversary. Ron Artest apologized for his actions and promised the fan he hit a dinner date when the Lakers play the Pistons. Ron Artest got a bad rap for going into the stands and decking the guy who threw a cup at him. The incident was ugly and Artest was lucky that he didn’t kicked out of the league. The fight that took place in Detroit shocked many and some thought that was the first time a player of any sport went into the stands after a fan. However, it wasn’t the first only time. Have you ever heard of Babe Ruth? Well he was known for going after fans during baseball games.

In 1922, Babe Ruth went into the stands and chased the fan out of the stadium after the fan said degrading comments about Ruth’s mother. Ruth was asked to return to the dugout and presumed to play.

Babe Ruth was involved in another incident in 1920, this time he attacked a fan after the game. The Yankees lost to the Dodgers 5-1 and Ruth had a bad game by striking out twice. The local fans gave him a hard time and after the game, he decided that he had enough. He climbed into the stands and went after a Dodger fan, who stood just over 5 feet tall. While others scattered to get out of Ruth’s way, the small man stood his ground and pulled out a knife. Ruth backed up, but still wanted to go after the fan. Thankfully, teammate Ernie Shore was sitting in the stands and held Ruth back, while telling the man with the knife to get lost. A tragedy was averted.

So if anybody says that Artest did something that was unheard of in sports, they’re wrong.

Ty Cobb was involved in an ugly incident were he harmed a handicapped man who called him a “Half Nigger”. Cobb went into the stands and beat the man with no feet. Fans who were there yelled at Cobb to stop, but Cobb’s reply was “I don’t care if he ain’t got no feet”.

- The Wanna-Be Sports Guy