There have been many men who have gone to an MLB game planning to simply be a fan, and then, because of some combination of a bet gone wrong and/or a little too much booze consumed, they end up leaving that aforementioned baseball game detained by security after realizing maybe the whole “run on the field byahhhhhh!” stunt isn’t such a great idea the very moment they receive a nice taser to the back and get tackled to the ground.
Literally, 100% of the time someone runs on an MLB field while not under contract with an MLB team, it has ended with the fan being escorted off the grounds by troves of security. That is, until Wednesday night.
That’s when 19-year-old Justin Buchanan hopped the third base rail at Great American Ballpark during the 8th inning in the second game of a double header between the Reds and Cubs, and made a B-line towards center field, all the while recording himself in the act on his cell phone.
(You can watch the whole video HERE, but the vantages below are far better)
Buchanan made it unabated to center field at which point he tried to say hi to the Reds’ Billy Hamilton (who he claims didn’t have the nicest response), before continuing his sprint and throwing his cellphone over the center field wall, scaling said wall with a Cincinnati cop in hot pursuit.
@justin_buchanan I got another angle for you pic.twitter.com/blkoErt3wR
— David Blaszczyk (@imblaszczyk) July 23, 2015
THEN, Justin Buchanan managed to sprint to safety outside of Great American Ballpark completely untouched by security, all the while Reds fans roared with amusement.
@justin_buchanan @WeLoveRobDyrdek here's the view I saw of you running up! pic.twitter.com/bQ1Yxci1M3
— Donney-Not Donney (@NDD_ESQUIRE) July 23, 2015
This is stuff of a fucking LEGEND. No one in recent baseball memory has has pulled off a stunt like this, and the closest thing that comes to mind is when Yankees’ Chris Chambliss was mobbed by hundreds of fans after hitting the walk-off home run that sent New York to the 1976 World Series! Iconic, historically significant stuff going on here!
Apparently, on his now private Twitter account, Buchanan sent out a series of messages indicating his intents, and then posted the selfie video he took some time after he escaped the stadium. Not necessarily the smartest or most clandestine way to go about it, but when you do something that monumental and unprecedented, I can totally understand the need to take to Twitter for a decent #humblebrag about it. And it’s not like every fan in attendance didn’t have their cell phones handy to film Buchanan in the act anyway; his identity was going to get revealed one way or the other.
Oh, and then he did a news interview with a local Noblesville, Indiana, news station later that evening because his stunt wasn’t already awesome enough.
http://v9.anv.bz/scripts/anv_mcp_9.jsvar p = new anv_pl_def(); p.config = {}; p.config.width = 640; p.config.height = 360; p.loadVideoExpressV3(‘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|1000011|SPS’);
Seriously, this kid should get an honorary one day contract with the Reds for his efforts. I can’t honestly remember one incident of a baseball fan disrupting play where the fan was able to successfully evade security.
@justin_buchanan pic.twitter.com/tRSTh8JI8y
— Ryan Hoffman (@RyanHoffman_14) July 23, 2015
Unfortunately, you can’t do this kind of stuff under the guise of the MLB and the Cincinnati Reds without getting punished. Although Buchanan touted on the above news report, “I mean, I did it, you’ve got to live with the consequences, but I don’t think I’ll necessarily regret it…I don’t think I’ll be in all that much of trouble, at least I hope not. I think it was just kind of something fun to do,” it seems Cincinnati PD aren’t taking the prank too lightly.
Around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon, it was announced the local police would be seeking a warrant for Buchanan’s arrest, which is a shame given the deal Justin struck with his mother when telling her about the possibility of taking to the field having lost a bet with his friends.
“My mom, when I texted her about it, she asked if I was ready to be escorted out of the game,” Buchanan said. “And I told her that it’d be fine. She actually told me if I got in trouble, my car money’s for bail.”
Listen, just start a GoFundMe, bro. I’ll help you out, and I’m sure a lot of other people would love to as well. This was legendary.
[h/t Deadspin, Sam Greene]