Drunken behavior at Fenway lands Red Sox before licensing board

A glassy-eyed, alcohol-infused Sox fan who had to be wrestled to the ground at a game in July after knocking a woman down raised the hackles of Boston Licensing Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer today.

"What concerns me right now is the level of intoxication of this patron," she told Fenway officials at a hearing on a police citation for having a "disorderly, intoxicated patron arrested on the premises" at a July 27 game.

Sox officials said the issue was more one of general belligerence than drunkenness - the guy just seemed to have a lot of pent up anger and had been yelling for several innings.

However, the security guard who got punched in the face for his efforts at ushering the guy away from his seat acknowledged that, yes, he did display signs of intoxication. But he spoke in a clear voice and his difficulty in getting out of his seat could just have been because "the seats are so tight," given that this is, after all, Fenway.

Boston Police Det. Thomas Keeley, however, told the board the man strongly smelled of alcohol, was glassy eyed and spoke in a slurred voice. It took "a violent struggle" to subdue the fan, whom he described as "drunk and disorderly," and who adopted a "fighting stance" and tried to keep arresting officers from cuffing him.

Charles Cellucci, the Red Sox director of security, and club attorney Dennis Quilty said that while security guards saw beers by the guy's friends, they did not see him with a beer or any evidence of a beer at his seat. Security guards acted appropriately once they learned the man had knocked a woman down in a rush to get back to his seat for the seventh inning, they said.

"Given the number of patrons, unfortunately, sometimes patrons do get disorderly," Quilty said.

The board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take.