Fan exits Citizens Bank Park after incident with umpire Bob Davidson – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Updated: Aug. 3, 12:15 a.m. 

Luis Garcia delivered a fastball for a strike to Denard Span. There was already one out in the top of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s 13-8 Phillies win over San Francisco (see game story) and the Giants had a runner on first.

But home plate umpire Bob Davidson had heard enough. Davidson, who made his MLB debut in 1982, called timeout and walked toward the visiting dugout.

It appeared at first as if Davidson, who ejected a fan in Milwaukee in 2010 for using a homophobic slur, was going to warn someone in the Giants’ dugout, but the veteran umpire pointed to a fan seated 14 rows behind the dugout.

Security arrived shortly after and the fan exited.

According to the Phillies, the fan left on his own accord.

“This guy starts yelling, ‘You suck!’ You could tell he was [drunk],” Davidson said after the game. “And so, all right, suck is not bad. Then he kept it up for two hitters completely.”

After the first pitch to the third hitter, Davidson said the fan screamed, “I own property on 69th Street,” which was followed by a statement with the same four-letter word but in a context that Davidson felt crossed the line.

“That’s when I turned around and said, ‘You know what, get rid of this guy.’ You could have your wife, girlfriend, kids — they buy tickets. They don’t have to come here and listen to that. That’s exactly what he said to throw him out.”

Cameron Rupp had a front-row seat behind the plate.

“I don’t know what he was saying, but it was very quiet at the point during the game and the guy was just hollering,” Rupp said. “I don’t know who he was yelling at, but Bob was just like, ‘That’s enough of that.’

“I started laughing. Bob was like, ‘I don’t know how long we’re going to have to listen to that guy but I put an end to it.’ It was the first time I’ve seen that happen.”

It was also a first for Davidson.

“People cheered me, which is unusual in this town for me,” he said.