Wrigley Fan Adds His Suit to Injuries

Concerned about how his client has been portrayed, the agent for Dodger catcher Chad Kreuter provided more details Thursday about Kreuter’s role in last week’s brawl with fans at Wrigley Field in Chicago that resulted in the team being hit with the largest mass suspension and harshest penalties in baseball history.

Agent Scott Boras has been troubled by newspaper and TV reports that Kreuter ignited the ninth-inning melee by entering the stands to retrieve his cap after a fan stole it and struck Kreuter on the head. Kreuter’s teammates and coaches followed him into the stands along the right-field line, leading to 19 Dodgers, Kreuter among them, being suspended for a total of 84 games and fined $72,000 by the commissioner’s office.

The Dodgers are appealing the disciplinary action handed down by Frank Robinson, vice president of on-field operations for baseball. Paul Beeston, baseball’s chief operating officer, is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles early next week to hear arguments.

Team officials said Kreuter--suspended for eight games and fined $5,000--was trying to retrieve his cap, and Kreuter has declined comment because of pending litigation. Boras is eager to set the record straight.

Boras said the cap was not Kreuter’s focus, that he has been miscast as an instigator and he was only defending himself after being struck several times while in the stands. There is more to the story than has been revealed, Boras said, and that needs to be known.

“They [officials in the commissioner’s office] can talk all they want to about what they saw on the [videotapes], but there’s a lot they don’t show,” Boras said. “What they don’t show is that Chad was hit four or five times, and the fan he wound up restraining hit him in the abdominal area and spit on him.

“Chad did not hit him, he simply tried to restrain him until security came, but there was no security. There was no one in the immediate area who responded. Fans surrounded him and he didn’t have clear access back to the field. I don’t think anyone can understand the fear that goes through a player’s mind when he and his teammates are surrounded by a group of people and it’s not your home crowd.”

Fox Sports Net videotapes obtained by The Times show Kreuter choking a fan. The altercation appeared to have died down when Kreuter engaged the fan.

While not commenting specifically on that incident, Boras said Kreuter reacted to being assaulted repeatedly in the stands.

“Whatever response you see from Chad Kreuter, he had been battered violently,” Boras said of the 10-year veteran. “He [the fan who allegedly initially struck Kreuter] hit him on the back of the head with such force that he needed treatment the next day for a sore neck.

“Don’t get me wrong, in an ideal situation you don’t want players in the stands. But when there’s no police around, when there’s no security around, you’re battered and your property is taken, your immediate response is to take action.”

Many players on other teams agree.

“Sometimes you have fans who go too far in certain things,” Cincinnati center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. said. “Baseball is a family game and we want people to enjoy it. But when someone physically assaults you, you’ve got to defend yourself.”

The appeal process is underway. Appeals are usually heard at the commissioner’s office in New York, but Beeston is traveling to Dodger Stadium because of the number of arguments he must hear.

Three coaches and 16 players are affected by the penalties.

Beeston has 10 days to rule on the suspensions and fines, and the clock started Wednesday when the Dodgers informed the commissioner’s office they would appeal.

The Dodgers are unified in their determination to fight Robinson’s ruling. Left fielder Gary Sheffield has a sore right ankle and could use five days’ rest, but he believes the decision is unjustified and won’t accept it on principle.

“I may have missed some, and I may have penalized some incorrectly,” Robinson said. “But we’re willing to listen.”

Manager Davey Johnson could shuffle the rotation to minimize problems stemming from the suspensions of Darren Dreifort, Eric Gagne, Chan Ho Park and Carlos Perez. But there’s a bigger issue, General Manager Kevin Malone said.

“I feel there are many people in many different places who would prefer it if we weren’t successful,” he said. “I wish and hope that that’s not the case, but actions speak louder than words. You would like to think that everything that’s done is done on a fair and equitable basis, in a manner that’s not setting an example or done unfairly, but it just seems like we’re always being highlighted.

“I’m not talking about the incident, I’m talking about the outcome. It seems like there’s always a severity in penalties when it deals with us. But I have a lot of confidence in Paul Beeston to do the right thing. I really do.”

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Staff writers Paul Gutierrez, Ross Newhan and Mike Terry contributed to this story.