Baseball perplexed by the hooligan element

Hooligans have rarely been a feature of America's pastime, baseball, but fans and officials were creasing their brows yesterday over an ugly fracas that broke out at a game between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics this week that led to broken bones and an arrest.

More upsetting still was the nature of the fight. It did not occur between rival fans in the terraces but rather between a group of fans and one of their star players.

Towards the end of an important match-up between the two sides at the home of the Athletics in Oakland - across the Bay from San Francisco - a row erupted between fans of the home team and some of the Texas Rangers players. Finally, Frank Francisco, a relief pitcher with the Rangers, took action.

In flare of frustration, Francisco grabbed a nearby chair and hurled into the front rows of the terraces, where it struck a woman and broke her nose. He was arrested and charged with assault.

Yesterday, officials from both sides were blaming one another. The manager of the Athletics, David Rinetti, denied suggestions that racial slurs had been uttered and insisted that his side's fans had behaved within reason.

"The incident became ugly when players approached the seating area," Rinetti said before the teams played the second game of the four-game series on Tuesday night. The Rangers countered, however, that they had had concerns about crowd behaviour at Oakland before and that request for additional security had been ignored.

By Tuesday night, however, a noticeably larger contingent of officers was on hand to keep order.