“There’s no need to use Tasers on fans who run on the field,” the former Philadelphia mayor told WCAU-TV. “We should just have enough personnel out there to surround them, take them off the field and put them in jail.”

Players didn’t think the officer’s action was excessive.

“If you’re on the streets running away from a cop, doesn’t that cop have a right to Tase you because your fleeing from a cop? So what’s the difference,” Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino said.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa agreed the use of a Taser was appropriate.

“If somebody comes up there and does some damage, they’re going to be second-guessing not doing anything,” La Russa said. “I just think it’s acceptable, because it’s a good deterrent.”

Pat Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said security issues are dealt with at the team level.

“MLB is reserving comment until the Philadelphia Police Department has completed their investigation and discussions with the Phillies,” he said in a statement.

An expert on police accountability said he couldn’t comment specifically on the Philadelphia case, but said the general rule is that officers should only use Tasers on people who are posing a threat of “imminent harm.”

Merrick Bobb, executive director of a Los Angeles-based nonprofit police oversight group called the Police Assessment Resource Center, said mild resistance usually doesn’t justify the use of a Taser.

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“Usually the resistance has to threaten some harm to the officer in order to justify the use of a Taser,” Bobb said.

Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, said she didn’t understand why the officer had to use a Taser.

“How long can he really run around out there?” Roper said of the fan. “In this situation, he’s not dangerous, he’s not getting away.”

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