List of Violent Spectator Incidents in Sports - 1912

1912

• May 15 – During a game between the New York Highlanders and the Detroit Tigers at Hilltop Park in New York, Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb ran into the stands and assaulted a handicapped fan, Claude Lueker, after Lueker had heckled him throughout the first three innings. Cobb was suspended indefinitely and fined $50 for the incident, and his teammates, though not fond of Cobb, went on strike to protest the suspension prior to the May 18 game against the Philadelphia A's; Detroit fielded a replacement team made up of college and sandlot ballplayers and two of their coaches and lost 24–2, much to the disgust of League president Ban Johnson. The strike ended ten days later when Cobb paid his fine and urged his teammates to return to the field in exchange for his suspension being lifted.
• September 11 – Umpire Tom Connolly was struck in the mouth by a bottle thrown from the crowd while he was arguing with Ty Cobb, who had been called out for stepping across home plate after he had hit an RBI triple on the third pitch of what was to have been an intentional walk.