The man wanted in connection with allegedly throwing a beer can at a Baltimore Orioles outfielder during the Toronto Blue Jays American League wild-card game Tuesday is Ken Pagan, a senior executive at Postmedia confirmed to Global News.
Pagan works for Postmedia at their head office in Hamilton as a sports copy editor, according to his LinkedIn Profile.
UPDATE: Toronto police ‘confident’ they have the right suspect in Blue Jays beer tossing incident
The Toronto Sun, which is also owned by Postmedia, issued a $1,000 reward to anyone able to identify the man who police allege threw the can at Orioles left fielder Hyun Soo Kim.
Pagan reportedly told Postmedia the police may have the incident wrong but declined to speak directly to the occurrence on advice of his lawyer.
“I was drinking out of a cup,” Pagan reportedly told Postmedia, according to The Sun.
READ MORE: Thrilling Blue Jays-Orioles wild-card game marred by tossed beer can, hurled racial slurs
He went on to point out there were Twitter photos showing a cup in his hand after the can was thrown.
“I’d love to tell you what happened and my story,” he told The Sun. “But I can’t say anything.”
Pagan also said he had spoken with police and made arrangements to turn himself in, according to The Sun.
With the score tied 2-2 in the seventh inning of the AL wild-card game, Jays pinch hitter Melvin Upton Jr. flied out to deep left field. But as Baltimore Orioles left fielder Hyun Soo Kim made the catch, he narrowly avoided being struck in the head by a beer can.
Orioles centre fielder Adam Jones could be seen angrily gesturing towards the crowd, and manager Buck Showalter came out of the dugout to speak with the umpire crew.
Toronto police said they were working closely with Rogers Centre security to identify the man and said they had “very clear images” of the suspect responsible for throwing the can of beer at Kim.
Toronto Police Const. Jen Sidhu called the incident “upsetting” and not a true reflection of the city or Blue Jays fans.
Toronto Mayor John Tory also expressed his disgust at the incident calling the culprit a “loon-ball.” However, he noted that the person was just one of about 50,000 fans at the Rogers Centre.
Details of the incident grew uglier following the game after Jones said he was taunted with racial slurs.
Jays and baseball fans alike took to social media to quickly condemn the beer tossing and called for the person to be banned from the Rogers Centre.
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball said it too was “extremely disappointed.”
“Any fan who resorts to dangerous actions like last night’s — in Toronto or elsewhere — will be subject to arrest,” it said. “We ask all fans to alert stadium operations employees if they witness any form of unacceptable behaviour from fellow spectators.”
Blue Jays spokesman Erik Grosman said the person who threw the beer can was not ejected from the stadium because the individual took off before police had a chance to make an arrest.
Kim, the target of the toss, said such an incident should never happen.
“It’s the first time for me and hopefully the last,” he said through an interpreter.
Jones, who said he heard racial slurs after the can was thrown, called the incident “pathetic.”
“You don’t do that. Yell, cuss or scream,” Jones said. “To put us in harm’s way, when all we’re doing is focusing on the game, that’s not part of baseball. Not part of any sport.”
It’s not the first time, however, that rowdy behaviour from some Jays fans has caused a stir.
Blue Jays fans tossed bottles and debris on the field during Game 5 of last year’s AL Division Series against the Rangers, upset by the call that let Rougned Odor score from third after catcher Russell Martin’s throw back to the mound deflected off Shin Soo Choo’s bat. A baby was narrowly missed.
Following that episode, a decision was made to serve beer in plastic cups in the upper tier of the stadium for certain games.
A Blue Jays fan also threw a drink at Orioles outfielder Nate McLouth during a game at Rogers Centre in May 2013.
Anyone with any information on this man, is asked to contact investigators at 52 Division by calling 416-808-5200
– With files from Andrew Russell and The Canadian Press
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