Scenario One: A friend travels with a small group, including her husband and their 7-year-old son, to Los Angeles last week to see a couple of games at Dodger Stadium. I would have gone along had I had the vacation days and money to spare. One of their games is ruined by obnoxious fans sitting behind them who scream toward the field nonstop, their favorite words being "suck" and something similar. Security does nothing. My friend emails the Dodgers when she gets home and gets a form-letter e-mail back thanking her for her support of Dodgers baseball.

Scenario Two: The Post-Gazette sports department gets an email this summer from a Vermont man who describes a scary trip to PNC Park with relatives in which drunken men sitting nearby verbally abuse and threaten them. According to the email, a security officer leads the ringleader away, then is seen laughing with the guy, who is allowed to return to his seat and continue his threats until the security officer returns, takes everyone's name and makes the out-of-state visitor and his group feel as if the officer blames them rather than the drunken bullies.

Scenario Three: During a ninth-inning confrontation Monday night between the Texas Rangers' bullpen staff and nearby A's fans in Oakland Coliseum, reliever Frank Francisco throws a chair into the stands that hits a 41-year-old woman, the wife of a heckler, and breaks her nose. Francisco is arrested.

Scenario Four: A few loudmouths at a major-league ballpark are escorted out by security personnel after several nearby families complain that the constant trash talking, though not profane, is making it impossible for them to enjoy the game.

That last scenario is wishful thinking. The first three are real accounts.

The incident with Francisco is being closely tracked this week. It underscores a recurring problem -- not with players but with fans.

There is no condoning what Francisco did, no matter how much he was provoked -- his lawyer said his wrist was forcefully grabbed -- or how rare it is for pro athletes to unleash violence against fans. He deserves whatever the law dishes out, and he deserves the pinch on his wallet when the couple sues or agrees to a settlement.

Jennifer and Craig Bueno are the victims -- well, Jennifer is, anyway, because Craig ducked to avoid the incoming chair, leaving his wife to take the hit -- but they're not so innocent victims.

This week, they are the face of the ugly fan, and that has nothing to do with Jennifer Bueno's bandaged nose and black eyes.

Of all the major spectator sports, baseball is the most family-oriented, and it should be the most family-friendly.

Yet it seems that rude, disruptive behavior in the stands is tolerated too often. Anyone who has been to even a few games in recent years knows what I'm talking about.

Yes, baseball is expensive, and paying for a ticket gives fans the right to boo and sling a few barbs when the situation on the field warrants. And I know all about free speech.

It is not OK, though, for a few angry or drunken or dysfunctional people to make those around them -- including families -- uncomfortable and wreck their experience. Families shell out a lot of money for tickets, too.

We don't know exactly what Craig Bueno said to the pitchers in the Rangers' bullpen. Closer Francisco Cordero told Sporting News Radio that the fans in that section shouted at them throughout the night and were "way out of control."

Craig Bueno, 42, told reporters he took part in some "bantering" but didn't use swear words. It's obvious he cares more about running his mouth than about watching the game. He said he bought season tickets near the visitors' bullpen specifically so he could heckle opposing pitchers, and called that "an American tradition."

How disgusting. What a small-minded man he must be to need to boost his self-esteem that way.

This man is a fire battalion chief, which makes him a role model much more than a baseball player should be. He's also the father of three teenage sons. Some example he sets.

This man is of my generation. When I was a kid, I would have loved to be able to afford season tickets close to the bullpen, any bullpen, just so I could see the players up close, maybe hear their conversation, perhaps get an autograph or, in a best-case scenario, have one of them toss me a ball.

Craig Bueno's next assigned seat should be the one next to Francisco in a 12-step anger-management program.

Major League Baseball's next assignment should be to better uphold its rules of conduct by ejecting all the Craig Buenos -- and hooligans who are worse -- before situations escalate and before fans who appreciate at least a nod toward sportsmanship decide to quit spending their money on baseball.