Touching story

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:34 am

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/ ... rt10x.html

The Bremerton man dashed onto Safeco Field in the middle of a Yankee game last month and got in a whirl of trouble.

Griswold was carrying out a promise he made to his ailing mother. He vowed to take her to the ballpark for her 63rd birthday Aug. 31.

Dianne Griswold suffered from diabetes, kidney disease, a massive stroke, the amputation of a leg and two bouts of cancer.

A huge Mariner fan, she would relish such a mother-and-son moment.

If only she had lived to see the day.

Dianne died six months ago -- on the day after Valentine's Day, when her heart gave out.

Her son, however, kept his word.

Griswold, as I wrote in last Saturday's column, bolted from the stands during the fourth inning of the Aug. 31 baseball game. He carried a large plastic cup and a sign with a picture of his mom. He spread the contents of the cup onto left field before security rushed up and took him away.

His mom's cremated ashes dusted the outfield.

Griswold's story touched hundreds of readers who told me he acted out of love and respect for his mom.

To some, the 36-year-old carpet installer became something of a folk hero, a guy whose intentions were pure even if his actions were technically wrong.

People wondered what fate dealt him.

Griswold faced criminal trespassing charges, jail time and a whopper of a fine.

Last Saturday, he stood before Commissioner Adam Eisenberg of the Seattle Municipal Court.

The judge asked him if he knew what he did was a no-no.

Griswold said yes.

Did he know that his actions also presented health-code issues?

Yes, Griswold nodded.

Griswold acknowledged wrongdoing and showed remorse, the court said. He believes people should be personally accountable for what they do.

He did feel tense standing in the courtroom, more so than when he dashed out in front of thousands of wide-eyed people at the game.

The looming possibility of a jail-cell cot will do that to you.

"I need my elbow room," Griswold explained. "I'm not incarcerate-able, if that's a word."

In court, Griswold sensed something, but he could not quite put his finger on it. It seemed as if the judge and others knew what Griswold had done could not go without punishment. But they also appeared to be touched.

Bob Conner later put the feeling Griswold sensed into words.

Conner was the King County sheriff's deputy who escorted Griswold off the field.

"John was a very polite man ... very apologetic and sincere. It was obvious ... he loved his mother very much and this was his way to honor her memory or carry out her wish," Conner said.

The deputy had lost his own mom and dad to heart problems.

"I can easily put myself in his position," Conner said, adding, "although I told John that there were other ways to honor his mother."

The time eventually came for the judge to hand down a sentence for Griswold, case No. 475666: no jail time.

The judge -- weighing the circumstances and Griswold's clean record -- chose to defer prosecution for the fan who rushed the field.

Griswold will have to pay no more than a $75 fine and must stay out of trouble for 90 days. If he does, the trespass charge will go poof.

Mariner officials, who don't take ceremonial ash dropping lightly, say Griswold is banned from Safeco until September 2006 -- a tough stand to deter copycats.

"Bummer," says Griswold, a die-hard who loves going to games. "But it is the price I've got to pay."

The sporting world can be a fickle place.

A big-league player gets suspended a few games for using illegal steroids.

A big-league fan gets a season-long suspension for breaking the rules just once out of love for his mom.

Justice may not be entirely blind. In the case of citizen Griswold, though, the baseball gods could use a pair of glasses

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:50 am

I wonder if he tried to go through the proper channels first? Asking permission of the team directly and trying to work something out with them?

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 10:52 am

Bay Area Cat wrote:I wonder if he tried to go through the proper channels first? Asking permission of the team directly and trying to work something out with them?

While that does matter, the big question is

this guy was doing a favor for his mom - memoralizing her in the only way he could - why ban him from safeco until sep of next year? What harm has the guy done...seriously

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:00 am

Hell's Bells wrote:
Bay Area Cat wrote:I wonder if he tried to go through the proper channels first? Asking permission of the team directly and trying to work something out with them?
While that does matter, the big question is

this guy was doing a favor for his mom - memoralizing her in the only way he could - why ban him from safeco until sep of next year? What harm has the guy done...seriously

Teams are really touchy about anybody going on to the field these days. If you let one person get away with it, it's hard to come down hard on somebody else (who may also have a personal cause to honor with their act).

I understand his intent, but what he did is no different than a streaker or anyone else who runs out on the field during a game. You're going to get into trouble doing it, even though (most of the time) no harm is done at all and the crowd actually loves it.

The two inbred guys who attacked the KC first base coach in Chicago a couple years ago are mostly to blame for the crackdown and zero tolerance policy on the part of most teams.

The guy did get off easy -- a small fine and no jail time is a pretty lenient sentence.

El_Gato · Post by **El_Gato** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:02 pm

I agree that there's no way the Mariner's or any big league team could just let something like this slide.

Although you have to have some sympathy for the guy, running out on the field to spread her ashes is a tad "out there". If she were still alive, would he have forced her to join him running onto the field? Of course not, they'd have simply watched the game from their seats; so why didn't he just take her ashes in remembrance?

To take this action tells me this guy isn't playing with a full deck...

Grizlaw · Post by **Grizlaw** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:06 pm

Interesting...

I was watching this game on TV when it happened, but I never heard the rest of the story.

This appears not to be an angle that anyone else raised, but when I watched the game and announcers were talking about a fan rushing the field and scattering a "powdery substance" in the outfield, my first thought was terrorism: either it was a solution that contained anthrax, or else it was something that he wanted people to think was anthrax. The game announcers didn't say anything to that effect and the game wasn't delayed, so obviously the "powers that be" were not overly concerned about that possibility, but it was the first thing that came to my mind at the time.

I am sympathetic to what the fan did, but it still seems to me that fans who do things like this ought to consider the trouble they might cause; arguably that game should have been stopped so that the substance could be tested to determine that it was safe. Thus, while I'm glad this guy didn't get punished too harshly, I definitely agree that some punishment was appropriate.

Post by **SonomaCat** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:18 pm

This hasn't come up yet, but if anyone decides that they want their ashes spread on Bobcatnation.com upon their demise, we'll do everything we can to accomodate them for a very small administration fee. But any unauthorized ash spreading during an on-going thread on this site will be punishable by a one-year banishment.

We just have to get the rules in place now so there are no misunderstandings.

Hell's Bells · Post by **Hell's Bells** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 2:46 pm

Bay Area Cat wrote:This hasn't come up yet, but if anyone decides that they want their ashes spread on Bobcatnation.com upon their demise, we'll do everything we can to accomodate them for a very small administration fee. But any unauthorized ash spreading during an on-going thread on this site will be punishable by a one-year banishment.

We just have to get the rules in place now so there are no misunderstandings.

i thought of a snappy comeback....wait a minute this isnt egriz!