Report: 1 in 12 fans drive drunk from ballpark
Beer linked to problems in the stands, but there's no push to turn off the tap because it would hurt key sponsors
In this photo taken May 9, 2011, a fan carries a beer and nachos on his way to his seat at a Colorado Rockies baseball game at Coors Field in Denver.
It was "College Night" at the Brewers game and season ticket holder Aaron Gross knew what that meant.
Cheap tickets for sale. Cheap beer at the tailgate parties. Plenty of booze-fueled trash talk inside the stadium. And, eventually, some alcohol-induced insults leading to suds-soaked fisticuffs.
"I have no problem with heckling people, that's part of the game. But they were crossing lines," said Gross, who found himself -- along with his wife -- caught near a brawl on a night when college students got in for half price. "It got unpleasant to the point where we left the game. The whole section was completely drunk and obnoxious. We left in the fourth inning, just said, 'That's enough.'"
At eight stadiums across the country -- Miller Park in Milwaukee, Coors Field in Denver, Busch Stadium in St. Louis among them -- fans told The Associated Press similar stories in recent weeks, reinforcing a fact of life at American stadiums: Alcohol is as big a part of going to a baseball game as peanuts and Cracker Jacks.
And while much of the boorish, and even criminal, behavior at the ballpark involves alcohol, expect the suds to keep on flowing. The business partnership between beer and baseball is as intertwined as the bond between pitcher and catcher......
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