The new Philly hero: Matt Diaz, foiler of Red Man (with video)
"Down goes Red Man! Down goes Red Man!" (AP photo)
Philadelphia — Patrons at an Eagles game infamously pelted Santa Claus with snowballs, but Philly fans weren’t booing Matt Diaz. On the contrary, the Braves’ outfielder became a local hero for his sidling takedown of an individual who has come already to be known as Red Man. (Not to be confused with Mark Redman, former lousy Braves’ pitcher.)
Seventh inning, Monday night, Jayson Werth batting: Red Man, clad in red spandex head-to-toe, capers from the left-field stands and heads across the outfield. Watching from the press box, you could see that Diaz, stationed in left, thought about impeding Red Man’s progress but decided against it.
Then, when security forces arrived and forced Red Man back left but started slipping in their pursuit, Diaz took matters unto his own hip.
He blindsided Red Man. Stuck out his right leg and Red Man went flying. “He got right up, but then the security guy crushed him,” Diaz said afterward.
Diaz was the postgame focal point in the Braves’ clubhouse because an intruding fan here had been tasered by a security man earlier this season. “I saw the cop coming with the Taser,” Diaz said. “I figured the guy would rather have me trip him than get tased.”
Wait a second, a Philly writer asked: Did he really see someone with a Taser? (I told you: They take this seriously up here.) “No,” Diaz said. “I was kidding.”
Diaz’s stated motivation: He remembered a Braves’ security guard getting hurt in a similar chase a while back. “I wanted to spear [Red Man] so bad, but I didn’t want to get hurt and I didn’t want to hurt him. I just stuck out my foot and he hit it.”
I asked if Red Man had, in their moment of close proximity, revealed his secret identity. “No,” Diaz said. “I’m sure the judge will find it.”
Red Man’s reaction to being tripped? He was shocked, Diaz said, adding that he could see the mystery man’s wide eyes through the costume.
And the Philly fans? They cheered Diaz, who tipped his cap. And who told reporters afterward: “They were very complimentary. I heard everything from, ‘I just put you on YouTube‘ to a girl with an ‘Utley marry me’ sign say, ‘I’ll marry you, too.’ ”
Speaking of YouTube … here you go.
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227 comments Add your comment
MWC
September 21st, 2010
2:51 pm
Yes, there was a jail at the Vet, and Santa got pelted because he was drunk…lmao!!
Sonny Clusters
September 21st, 2010
2:52 pm
We’re a little sore today after taking a nasty fall last night.
PHILLY FAN
September 21st, 2010
2:59 pm
WOW,,, I just started reading what the braves fans are saying and im cracking up…”Them mean philly fans..BLA BLA…Im not feeling any southern hospitality…..YOOO, braves fans, ITS OVER !!!!!!!! STICK A TOMAHAWK IN IT….Your a bunch of babies…..HAHAHAHAHA.;..
rlinaug
September 21st, 2010
3:10 pm
am i the only one old enough to remember mike curtis, linebacker for the colts, taking out a fan on the field. though, he wasn’t as gentle as diaz.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mike+curtis+colts&aq=f
rlinaug
September 21st, 2010
3:11 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdP2G7UtS9I
this is the correct link
Chief Hittabatta
September 21st, 2010
3:18 pm
Why the HELL are we starting 2.5 rookies against the Philthies’ best pitchers? Bring all your horses to the race or you’ll get trampled!!
Charlie Manuel's Colon
September 21st, 2010
3:21 pm
Let’s get this series over with. I’m about to EXPLODE!!!
ss
September 21st, 2010
3:55 pm
Funny to see the santa comments and the old vet comments. Best moment in the crowd: 08 presidential race. The flyer fans booed Sarah Palin. That was pretty funny!
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
3:58 pm
Guy Incognito-Yes, they did boo Santa, over 42 years ago. Wasn’t that right about the time Georgia gave equal rights to African-Americans and just over 100 years after they gave up slaves of the same ethnic background? Get a clue, Atlanta.
Bob from Philly
September 21st, 2010
4:01 pm
Yes we in Philly have Redman( a true idiot). I guess Atlanta has Invisible Man. You can’t tell me all those seats are really empty in the middle of a September pennnant drive.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:03 pm
Benjamin-Yes, you can, especially when that individual has been implicated time and again in criminal activity to include violence and bodily harm against women and his own teamates. He’s a coke head and was fired from ESPN for that reason. What possible good could he be?
Duke Fame
September 21st, 2010
4:09 pm
Couldn’t help but bring up Santa Claus, could you? I know, I know, it’s only been 46 years. It’s still relevant. Loser.
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:10 pm
PoconoPhils……….dude, I can see Philly fans not liking Michael Irvin (heck, if Irvin had PUNKED my Cowboys as much as he did the Eagles……I’d probably not like him either).
However, dude is a 3 time Super Bowl, Hall of Fame wide receiver. For Philly fans to boo him when he was hurt………well, lets just say that if Andy Reid’s FAT A$$ were to have a heart attack on the sidelines at the new Cowboys Stadium………..I sure hope that Dallas fans laugh their A$$E$ off.
Win a Super Bow first….JUST ONE……..then maybe, just maybe, you losers can talk about some class. Until then…….you can kiss the 5 time Super Bowl winning A$$ES of my Dallas Cowboys.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:14 pm
Mr. Obvious-How old are you? 12? Ugly? I spent 10 months in Georgia, women there are no more hotter than anywhere else except maybe New Jersey. They often settle for those overall wearing, three toothed, Caterpillar hat wearing, rednecks named Jethro or Mr. Obvious.
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:14 pm
One thing I will say about Philly fans and the Philly media: They would have never let Bobby Cox get away with his “uh, we hit the ball right at them…….or……..they hit good pitches” crap that the Atlanta media routinely laps up.
Philly fans and the Philly media will rip their players, coaches and management if it is warranted. I’ve looked at this blog and VERY LITTLE lip service has been given to the fact that 2 HUGE ERRORS in the 5th inning (along with our pathetic offense with runners in scoring position)…….cost us another game.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:17 pm
Michael in Dumbwoody-14 Division Titles, 1 World Series? So the Braves choked 13 out of 14 times unless you want to count this year which makes 14 out of 15.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:18 pm
Christopher Chance-Baseball blog moron. Atlanta fans brought up Irvin.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:19 pm
Christopher Chance-Errors which mean they are not as good as you thought. If they were they wouldn’t have committed the errors, right?
ss
September 21st, 2010
4:20 pm
Hey phillies 10,
The comment about the economic unemployment rate is pretty sad if your going to stoop to that low. You sound like you take pride in something that is a pretty serious issue.
Patrick Kane just scored again in the Wachovia Center again in OT!
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:20 pm
At what point does Lord Bobby’s coaching ability get questioned? We’ve committed 50 MORE ERRORS than San Diego (114-64). Of all the other play-off teams, the team closest to us is Colorado (114-85). That means that we have committed at least 29 more errors than every play-off contender.
Talk about a drop off. Are our players THAT FREAKING BAD that there is such a discrepancy in defense (not to mention some of the friendly non-errors that were scored hits by home town official scores)? Or are our guys simply not being coached properly on how to stay focused and play proper defense?
Yet, these guys continue to go out there and make critical error after critical. Brian McCann continues to make bad throws to second. Jason Heyward, has made a number of very lazy errors in right field. You’re talking about 2 of our best players not showing improvement as the season is nearing an end.
I blame all this on Lord Bobby’s player’s manager philosophy. The numbers dont lie. How can a play-off contender have the 3 worst defense in the National League?
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:22 pm
TTTT-Thumbody Thed Thats Thupid-”If your fans are so great and dedicated why was one of the Phils players complaining in your newspaper after that 9th inning comback the other day vs the Gnats, that so many fans had already left? At least Braves fans are smart enough to know better than that. Heck, probably half of our wins have come in the last 3 innings! Philly Phans are Phickle!”
So where are you the other 6 innings?
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:24 pm
Phillies’10………….MORON, you were the only who JUSTIFIED Philly fans booing Irvin when he was hurt.
Again, when Andy Reid’s drug dealing, pill popping, burglarizing dope fiend sons die of an overdose, get murdered in a drug deal gone bad or get sent to prison for 20 years …….I’ll be sure to laugh at you and your sad excuse of a professional football franchise.
braveschick
September 21st, 2010
4:24 pm
Chief Hittabatta – Um, because we didn’t decide to rework our rotation like they did? And we don’t really have a choice because of all the injuries.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:25 pm
ss-Braves just choked again (Insert any year).
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
Phillies’10………….dude, I’m not blaming our bad defense on the players. I’m blaming it on the lack of coaching that they get from Bobby Cox.
Many so-called Atlanta Braves fans feel that Lord Bobby is a great manager because he’s a player’s manager. I say that being a player’s manager is no different than being a parent who is more concerned with their children liking them…..then they are with raising and teaching their children how to be responsible, productive kids.
Lord Bobby is like a parent who gets called in to a parent-teacher conference because little Johnny is cutting up in class. However when meeting with the teacher, the parent blames the teachers for unfairly getting on little Johnny.
Lord Bobby is no different. He blames everyone else and makes excuses for the failures of his players (not to mention avoiding non-questions about his lack of managing and coaching).
mark bradley's 70's fro and mustache
September 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
@PHILLIES10, That has to be the most retarded thing said on this blog, infact everyone here is a little dumber for that beng said. Slavery was over a hundred years ago. Slavery vs booing santa? Nice comeback, loser!Brothery love? Nice slogan, is that because there are no women up there so you have to warm up to your brother?
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
Christopher Chance- F**KING IDIOT. Go back and read the blog. One of your fans brought it up along with the old and tired Santa Claus argument. Are you a Braves and Cowboys fan together? If so that should qualify you for SSI benefits because you are developmentally disabled. Have your mom look into that for you.
P.S. I don’t care about Reid and his sons, but apparently you have some type of love for Irvin.
Some of you people are WAAAY too uptight
September 21st, 2010
4:29 pm
Anybody who gets really bent out of shape about a fan running onto the field is somebody I would not want to be friends with.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:31 pm
mark bradley’s 70’s fro and mustache-How do you figure? THAT WAS THE POINT. I can see you’re still sensitive about the issue though. How much did your family lose on that one? Don’t you have a pointy hat meeting to get too tonight?
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:38 pm
I would hope the Phillies could outdraw the Braves. For one it’s a bigger market and two you guys have been to two straight World Series. Doing some digging(baseballreference.com) I found that when the Braves went to two straight world series in 1991 and 1992, the Braves averaged in 1993 close to 50,000 fans a game and sold out every game and drew a national league record 3.9 million fans. So you guys in Philly have some work to do.
mark bradley's 70's fro and mustache
September 21st, 2010
4:39 pm
You are tastless and have no crass. Why would anyone on here bring up slavery? Dont you have a pole to smoke? PHILLIES10. How many did I lose? My family is from New York. Your a loser.
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:40 pm
And all the fans that are upset because a fan ran out on the field, chill the hell out. It was funny and will become legend. It’s not like the guy had a knife or a gun he was just some kid who wanted 15 minutes of fame. It was funny.
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:40 pm
braveschick……..can you really blame Philly for adjusting their rotation for the 3 games with us? These are the games that you WANT TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS and have your best in there. These are the only games that you do not have to scoreboard watch or rely on help from other teams…….because you can take care of business yourself.
Again, I blame Bobby Cox for this. How can you not have Tim Hudson or even (gasp) Derek Lowe (whose pitched well against Philly in his career) pitch in this series? The Phillies are definitely getting their money’s worth with having their best pitchers on the mound.
Think about it, even before Jurrjens got hurt……..we were scheduled to have slightly more than $1 mil in salary (Jurrjens, Hanson and 1/3 of a season salary of Mike Minor, who was in the minors for most of the season) facing a combined $25 mil (Halladay $15.75, Oswalt’s approximate $2.5 mil, which is Philly’s prorated potion, including the part Houston agreed to pay when the trade was made, and Hamels’ $6.5 mil) in starting pitching.
Meanwhile we left $24 mil (Lowe $15 mil, Hudson $9 mil) worth on the sidelines, so they could open the weekend series against the Nationals.
Pathetic.
mark bradley's 70's fro and mustache
September 21st, 2010
4:42 pm
@PHILLIES10, I guess evolution wasnt a strong point in your family. Are you the only one left? You havent found out why antifreeze is so sweet?
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:43 pm
Phillies 10, you are a Philly fan and you want to talk about choking? Come on now. The Phillies are the losingest franchise in pro sports history and they choked in the playoffs in 2007 against the Rockies. And last year got destroyed by the Yankees. And shall we talk about the Eagles and all of the NFC championship games you guys have lost? How about the Flyers blowing it in the Stanley Cup? Again. And the Sixers, well obviously no one cares about the NBA so screw all of those teams.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:44 pm
mark bradley’s 70’s fro and mustache- WOW!! Look how upset you got. Too funny. SENSITIVE.
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:45 pm
scottbravesfan-Yea, well I wasn’t bragging about 14 division titles and 1 WS win, now was I?
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:45 pm
Chris Change,
You know Bobby, doesn’t want to rock the boat. Let’s keep a slumping Prado in the 3 hole as well while Heyward continues to be the team’s best hitter. Hell move McCann up to the 3 hole at least he has some power. I’m tired of watching Prado hit into double plays and then slam his helmet down in anger. I like Prado but he is not a 3 hole hitter.
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:45 pm
Phillies’10……I have love for the fact that Irvin helped us win 3 of our 5 Super Bowls.
By the way, I grew up in Arkansas. I was 10 years old back in 1982 when I started getting into sports. Remember, back in those days, cable tv didnt show a lot of sports. The only baseball I was able to see was the NBC Game of the Week..as well as the Braves on TBS.
As far as football is concerned, since there are no pro teams in Arkansas, CBS would show Dallas games on Sunday’s in our market. That’s how I became a fan of the Braves and Cowboys.
The ironic thing is that in the last part of the 80’s, I was a suffering Cowboys and Braves fan. However, in 1991, both teams started to turn it around. In 1995, both the Braves and Cowboys won Championships.
Bobby Cox
September 21st, 2010
4:47 pm
Terribly written sentence… “security forces arrived and forced Red Man back left but started slipping”
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:48 pm
Christopher Chance- Funny part is I liked Aikman, Newtown, Haley, and Emmit Smith, but I am sorry Irvin is a scumbag.
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
scottbravesfan………I’ve said this all along: Lord Bobby is more concerned with the “legacy” of his player’s manager image…..than he is with doing what it takes to win.
I want a manager who will MANAGE this team……..and TEACH these guys how to run the bases, play defense, and play fundamental baseball.
The reason why we are winning is because of our starting pitching and strong bullpen…..not because of anything Bobby Cox has done. In fact, I feel that he’s done a number of things to hold our offense and defense back.
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
Phillie 10,
Trust me I’m one of those who thinks they should take down the division title banners at Turner Field. If you don’t win the whole thing doesn’t mean a thing to me. And the comment about the Flyers I actually grew up rooting for them because I had no hockey team here and so I’m used to them choking as well. But ripping on the Braves for choking when Philly is known for it too is counterproductive.
ss
September 21st, 2010
4:49 pm
I follow the braves phillies 10 but im a fan of a team you didnt beat last fall. I think you know which team that might be.
ss
September 21st, 2010
4:50 pm
Doc Halladay probally wont give up no more than 2 runs. Minor better step up.
PHILLY FAN
September 21st, 2010
4:51 pm
Christopher Chance, your a FRAUD….You from GA and your a cowbows fan…And by the way, You talk to much…..DEUCH BAG !
Christopher Chance
September 21st, 2010
4:51 pm
Phillies’10……….how is Irvin a scumbag?
I can only imagine what you think of Michael Vick or Jason Werth (after all, isnt banging your teammate’s wife qualification for being a scumbag?). How did you feel about Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley when they played for Philly?
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:51 pm
1. Bye, to the real Braves fans (this includes you too, Christopher Chance)
2. Screw all of you bandwagoners that cannot support your own team in a pennant race, but want to talk trash. This does NOT include those i SAID bye to in #1.
3. Magic # 8
Phillies'10
September 21st, 2010
4:52 pm
ss-So you’re a front runner. Nice.
scottbravesfan
September 21st, 2010
4:53 pm
Yeah they show the Cowboys all over the country pretty much every game. And the TBS thing is why there are so many Braves fans across the country. If you grew up in the 80s and didn’t live close to a city with a team you wouldn’t get any games except the Braves and TBS and the Cubs on WGN, although WGN is not as widely distributed as TBS is. I mean everyone who has cable and had it back then got TBS. That’s why Citi Field this weekend was packed with Braves fans and when the Braves go to places like Texas there are always a lot of fans too.