CHICAGO -- Interaction between fans and players is inevitable when bullpens are located in the field of play and situated next to the box seats. The Pirates didn't need to watch the ugly incident unfold this week between Texas Rangers pitchers and Oakland Athletics fans to know this to be true.
Unlike the situation at Network Associates Coliseum, cooler heads prevailed at Wrigley Field this week when a fan threw a shelled peanut that hit Pirates reliever Salomon Torres in the face.
"I was able to see it coming out of the corner of my eye and moved, so it only hit me on the cheek," Torres said.
Pirates pitchers pointed out the culprit seated in the third row, and stadium security had the fan ejected.
Torres doesn't condone Frank Francisco's decision to throw a plastic chair into the Oakland crowd, but he said tighter security measures need to be adopted for the safety of the players.
"Every time you have a bullpen so close to the fans there's the potential for problems," Torres said. "They need to take a closer look at the situation."
The Pirates didn't encounter any trouble when they played at Network Associates Coliseum in June. Torres, though, heard his share of heckling during the series. Ever since losing the final game of the 1993 season, a loss that cost the San Francisco Giants a spot in the playoffs, Torres has been derided every time he has returned to the Bay Area.
"They still remember me," Torres said. "There was no swearing or anything of that nature. They were booing, doing things like that. They just were being fans."
