The Atlanta Warriors won the World Series championship for the first time since 1995, but during the team’s victory parade on Friday, a player seemed to perform poorly.
The 26-year-old rescue pitcher Tyler Matzek confronted a police officer who appeared to be almost arrested because of his wrong identity.
The police officer seems to be a member of Marietta police Department. Marietta, Georgia, located in the northwestern suburbs of Atlanta, is one of the main locations on the parade route.
Amateur footage taken by Jacob Blount of KOLR-TV showed the officer approaching Mazek, who was running in the middle of the street and pushing him away from a tram carrying Warriors players.
You can see Matzek fighting with the police and being taken to the crowd on the side of the street.
When asked about the incident TwitterBlunt wrote on Twitter: “The Marietta police tried to arrest #勇者 The pitcher was in his own parade… he pulled him aside, found him, and let him go. “
Another angle of the incident was captured Fox Sporty Major League Baseball Analyst Ben Verlander, he seems to be shooting the video in a location similar to Blount. Verlander’s video shows some other law enforcement officers surrounding Matzek.
The two parties exchanged for a while. In the end, the police seemed to realize that Matzek was a member of the Brave Team and allowed him to move on with the rest of the team.
However, according to Marietta officials, Mazek and the officials were just “misunderstanding” and he was not actually handcuffed.
According to reports, the Marietta Police Department told WXIA-TV that other players and staff of the Warriors had similar encounters because they should not leave the tram.
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As a left-handed rescue pitcher, Mazek has become one of the most popular Warriors players, thanks to his heroic performance in the MLB playoffs.
Although he achieved an easy 0-4 record in the regular season, his arm didn’t really become active until the playoffs.
In the 6th game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mazek pitched two perfect games, including four strikeouts, to help the Warriors qualify for the World Series.
However, Mazek did not finish, because he will show more heroism in the autumn classics.
In the decisive sixth game of the World Series against the Houston Astros, Matzek played as a substitute pitcher. Then he made four more strikeouts, putting the team at the bottom of the ninth inning, bringing them closer to Will Smith to win the championship.
Marietta Police Department told Weekly newspaper “Multiple agencies are on the parade route, including the Marietta police, to ensure everyone’s safety… A brave player left the bus and interacted with the crowd. Our officer claimed to be the parade route. When escorting him off the parade route players… the police officer escorted him back to the bus, and the parade continued.”
