sports
“It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault!”
Mr. Bronc Baseball “I’ve only missed two home games since ’96. One was because of a doctor’s appointment and the other was because
I couldn’t get out of work. And I couldn’t call in sick,” Jerry Martinez manages to push through his smile. It’s obvious he takes pride in this fact. Jerry is a middle-aged man with glasses that fall on his nose. His wardrobe consists of exclusively Bronc paraphernalia. The jacket draped on
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his body is embroidered with the Bronc insignia across the chest and the cap covering his skull is identical to one on the field. Martinez is a staple of UTPA baseball games, but his presence isn’t always well received. “If they’re not talking to us, they’re throwing things at us like ice, water, grapefruit,” Martinez said. “We’ve gotten rocks thrown at us. We’ve have bottles of waters, bottles, flower seeds. They get really mad sometimes,” Amanda Esquivel, avid Bronc baseball fan, said. “The players have even thrown stuff at us.” Esquivel typically sits with Jerry Martinez, and echoes his claims of inappropriate behavior from opposing fans. “They let their emotions get the best of them. I find it hilarious. It’s just baseball, and they have to get used to it,” Esquivel said. “It happens every year. There’s always somebody that doesn’t like what we do and they’re always approaching us.” During a game versus the UTBrownsville, fans of the opponents yelled obscenities in the direction of Martinez and fellow hecklers. Also, one man proceeded to harass Martinez and accuse him of insulting about his family. This sort of thing happens almost every series, they say. It’s comical to witness an adult projecting strings of vulgarity-laced dialogue at another, demanding maturity. The irony escapes them. “They’ve come after me with a lawn chair and an umbrella. It’s amazing how parents just aren’t used to it,” Martinez said. “But the reason they let us do what we do is because we don’t use any profanity. And we don’t use any derogatory statements about race or religion. We’re equal opportunity harassers.” And even though these fans cause problems for the visiting spectators, that’s seems to the people their bothering. “I’ve had no complaints up to this point,” Chris King athletic director said. And opponent share the same sentiment. “And they do a good job of it. They keep it clean and they’re just having fun at the ballpark,” said Louisiana Head baseball coach Wade Simoneaux. (cont’d on page 150)