To the idiot with the laser pointer ...

Michael_ Gee · Jul 26, 2009

A correction: Apparently the flashing red light that interrupted play Friday night at Fenway was from a malfunctioning light in a bleacher concession kitchen in center field visible through the wall, while the fan rousted by security was merely your average D and D jackass. My apologies to Fenway's non-terroristic jackasses.

ArnoldBabar · Jul 26, 2009

Somebody's been shining powerful green lasers into the cockpits of landing commercial jets at Sea-Tac in the past few months. When that guy gets caught, they're going to bury him under a federal prison.

mpcincal · Jul 26, 2009

Ben_Hecht said:

mpcincal said:

In the mid-90s, I got to work for the company that did the Padres' game-day programs one year. During the course of the year, I got to know the guy who did a lot of photography for the team and was under contract by our company to provide photos for the program. We weren't buddies, but I got to know him a little bit; he was a nice guy, solid photog and very professional in his demeanor.

A couple years after I left that job, I read in the paper where he was in the photo pit by the Padres' dugout shooting during a game with the Pirates. Suddenly, his eyes felt a burning sensation and his vision got temporarily blurry. It was found out that Jason Schmidt, who wasn't pitching that night and apparently wasn't interested in paying attention to the game, was using a laser pointer from the Pittsburgh dugout and shining it in the photog's eyes. A security guard was alerted, and he went over to tell Schmidt to stop it, which elicited a string of cursing from Schmidt toward the guard.

After that, let's just say I haven't had a lot of sympathy for the guy who's missed most of the last three seasons to injury and gets to read how he's one of the biggest free-agent busts in Dodgers history. Of course, he still gets to keep his money and he didn't get a line drive in the cojones during his return the other night, so I can't say karma has completely gotten him.
Click to expand...

Jesus.

Would love to see a link to that story.
Click to expand...

Here you go. I googled (or yahooed) "Jason Schmidt, laser pointer" and actually got a couple of links. It happened in 1999.

http://www.baseball-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=293
Third item down.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/162

Ben_Hecht · Jul 26, 2009

mpcincal said:

Ben_Hecht said:

mpcincal said:

In the mid-90s, I got to work for the company that did the Padres' game-day programs one year. During the course of the year, I got to know the guy who did a lot of photography for the team and was under contract by our company to provide photos for the program. We weren't buddies, but I got to know him a little bit; he was a nice guy, solid photog and very professional in his demeanor.

A couple years after I left that job, I read in the paper where he was in the photo pit by the Padres' dugout shooting during a game with the Pirates. Suddenly, his eyes felt a burning sensation and his vision got temporarily blurry. It was found out that Jason Schmidt, who wasn't pitching that night and apparently wasn't interested in paying attention to the game, was using a laser pointer from the Pittsburgh dugout and shining it in the photog's eyes. A security guard was alerted, and he went over to tell Schmidt to stop it, which elicited a string of cursing from Schmidt toward the guard.

After that, let's just say I haven't had a lot of sympathy for the guy who's missed most of the last three seasons to injury and gets to read how he's one of the biggest free-agent busts in Dodgers history. Of course, he still gets to keep his money and he didn't get a line drive in the cojones during his return the other night, so I can't say karma has completely gotten him.
Click to expand...

Jesus.

Would love to see a link to that story.
Click to expand...

Here you go. I googled (or yahooed) "Jason Schmidt, laser pointer" and actually got a couple of links. It happened in 1999.

http://www.baseball-analysis.com/article.php?articleid=293
Third item down.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/162
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The $64 question: Did Zwink incur permanent damage from this horseshit?

mpcincal · Jul 26, 2009

Looks like he's still working steadily: http://www.zwink.com/

Songbird · Jul 26, 2009

mpcincal said:

Looks like he's still working steadily: http://www.zwink.com/
Click to expand...

Top. Shelf. Photography.

Football_Bat · Jul 26, 2009

I probably would've sued Jason Schmidt anyway just because.

OnTheRiver · Jul 26, 2009

Football_Bat said:

I probably would've sued Jason Schmidt anyway just because.
Click to expand...

The Dodgers front office just got an idea...

JBHawkEye · Jul 26, 2009

OnTheRiver said:

Football_Bat said:

I probably would've sued Jason Schmidt anyway just because.
Click to expand...

The Dodgers front office just got an idea...
Click to expand...

Considering the way he's pitching today, they should sue.

Armchair_QB · Jul 27, 2009

luftkopf83 said:

You're lucky Tony LaRussa didn't try to pull his team off the field after you shined a laser in the eyes of Lugo and Pujols. It's too bad the ushers didn't find you, confiscate your laser, then shine it in your eyes before banning you from baseball for life. Your home team was winning, why try that stunt now???
Click to expand...

For the record, I was nowhere near Philly over the weekend.

Songbird · Jul 27, 2009

i e-mailed zwick to tell him about this thread. i didn't click those links. did they mention how the schmidt incident got zwick blacklisted? and how zwick still has vision issues? that's what zwick said in his replies. he seems like a cool guy. if you haven't checked his work, i highly suggest it. elite-level work.

SoCalDude · Jul 28, 2009

Football_Bat said:

Here is some information on laser pointers and eye damage.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-a-pocket-laser-damage

http://www.pangolin.com/resguide09c.htm

The red pocket lasers you buy at Wal-Mart are supposedly safer, but obviously the magnifying effect of a long-distance camera lens will increase the effect.

The green lasers, especially the big ass ones, are much more dangerous — they're illegal in the U.S. They're powerful enough that commercial pilots have been temprarily blinded by them on takeoffs and approaches. These are certainly powerful enough to cause eye damage at 500 feet.

Shining a laser at an aircraft is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison under the Patriot Act.
Click to expand...

There was an episode of CSI Miami about this a couple of years ago.
I just thought it was TV drama.
Damn.

Log in or Sign up

To the idiot with the laser pointer ...

Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

ArnoldBabar Active Member

mpcincal Well-Known Member

Ben_Hecht Active Member

mpcincal Well-Known Member

Songbird Well-Known Member

Football_Bat Well-Known Member

OnTheRiver Active Member

JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

Songbird Well-Known Member

SoCalDude Active Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

To the idiot with the laser pointer ...

Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

ArnoldBabar Active Member

mpcincal Well-Known Member

Ben_Hecht Active Member

mpcincal Well-Known Member

Songbird Well-Known Member

Football_Bat Well-Known Member

OnTheRiver Active Member

JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

Songbird Well-Known Member

SoCalDude Active Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches