Rick Dempsey says he never saw what happened.

The Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen coach heard a big thud in the team's bullpen down the right-field line Tuesday night after the Cubs' Julio Zuleta had doubled in a run in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out and cutting the deficit to 6-5. Dempsey turned to see catcher Chad Kreuter racing up into the stands.

"Some guy apparently hit Chad in the head and took his hat or part of his helmet," Dempsey said. "He went to retrieve it and that was it. I got halfway up [in the section] and was smothered."

Once Kreuter went after the fan, the lower box seats behind the Dodgers' bullpen resembled a rugby scrum more than a baseball game for the next nine minutes. Fans swarmed the players and numerous punches were thrown, while bystanders watching the Cubs' ninth-inning rally tried to move to safety.

"It was a total free-for-all, just like a riot," said Rhonda Kingery. She was visiting Chicago from Mississippi on an internship and sitting two rows behind the Dodgers' bullpen on her first trip to Wrigley Field.

"I was scared. There were punches being thrown, and I was like, `Don't come my way.'"

Along with Kreuter and Dempsey, coach John Shelby and relief pitcher Mike Fetters appeared to be right in the center of the fray, trying to pull Dodgers away from the action.

Once the Dodgers on the field became aware of the altercation, they raced to the bullpen to add their assistance. "Some of our guys were so deep in the stands that I was watching to make sure nobody got hurt," said Dodgers catcher Todd Hundley, who hit the game-winning three-run home run one inning earlier. "Security had things under control and then one of the fans threw another punch."

"It got ugly," Dempsey said. "At one point I got pinned over a chair and couldn't move. I was just holding one guy's arm because he looked like he was going to hit one of our players."

Although the Dodgers won the game, their satisfaction was muted.

"This is a wonderful place to play baseball," Los Angeles General Manager Kevin Malone said of Wrigley Field. "It's too bad a couple of [fans] got out of hand. The only suggestion I would make is they get a little more security down there."

Manager Davey Johnson added: "When people are swearing at you, throwing beer at you and trying to steal your equipment, you have to defend yourself. That's all we were doing."

Hundley was especially disappointed. Wrigley Field was his home away from home as a youngster, when his father, Randy, was the Cubs' catcher for eight seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"Yeah, it is upsetting," Hundley said. "Say whatever you want to us, but when you get physical and touch a player, then it's on. There are no rules for that."

Hundley also had a suggestion for the fan who swiped Kreuter's helmet.

"If you want a hat that bad, be polite and ask for it," Hundley said. "You just don't expect that sort of behavior in a big-league atmosphere."