Sleeping Fan Sues ESPN, MLB

There’s no crying in baseball, but a sleepy Bronx Bombers fan is whining in court that he got mocked by two ESPN announcers for snoozing in his seat at Yankee Stadium.

The NY Post reports Andrew Rector has filed a $10 million defamation suit against the team, the sports network, its play-by-play man Dan Shulman and big-leaguer-turned-commentator John Kruk, who he claims unleashed an “avalanche of disparaging words” over his nationally televised nap.

Rector admits in the Bronx Supreme Court suit that he “briefly slept” during the April 13 night game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

But his typo-ridden suit says Shulman and Kruk’s “false statements” include suggestions that Rector is “not worthy” to be a Yankee fan and “is a fatty cow that need two seats at all time and represent symbol of failure.”

Audio of the play-by-play reveals Shulman and Kruk surprised to find the fan snoozing , with Kruk noting: “It’s only the fourth inning!”


As a result, the used-car dealer claims to have “suffered substantial injury” to his “character and reputation,” as well as “mental anguish, loss of future income and loss of earning capacity.”

His July 3 filing also names Major League Baseball as a defendant.