“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” could turn into “Keep Me Out of the Ballpark” if one Los Angeles lawmaker gets his way.
Assemblyman Mike Gatto says he got the idea after Giants fan Bryan Stow was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium on opening day last year.
The Democrat wants the California Attorney General’s Office to create a list of fans who’ve committed violent acts at games and bar them from major league arenas anywhere in California for five years.
Gatto says names and pictures of the offenders would be on the Internet and they’d be sent to every club as well.
While a determined fan could get around the ban by having a friend buy tickets for him, that fan would be risking a possible $10,000 fine and a year in jail.
Gatto’s plan would charge ball clubs $10,000 a piece to maintain the list, which Republican lawmakers did not immediately warm up to.
There has been no comment yet from any sports team.
Gatto says other countries have tried this, and it works.