Baseball History -- December 28

Complete entry for December 28 is at BaseballLibrary.com HERE.

1995
Former major league P John D'Acquisto is arrested on charges of trying to pass off a forged $200 million certificate of deposit as collateral on a deal at Prudential Securities Inc.

This is a close second to the time that Eddie Belfour offered a police officer $1 Billion (that's right $1 Billion). The story from early 2000:

No amount of money, it seemed, could keep Dallas Stars goalie Ed Belfour out of jail. Belfour first offered Dallas police officers $100,000, then $1 billion, if they would not jail him in connection with a scuffle March 8 at a hotel, according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

An arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram describes Belfour, who helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup last season, as intoxicated and combative, spitting in one officer’s face following his arrest. Police had to spray Belfour with Mace, but he continued to resist them, kicking two officers in the chest as they tried to restrain him.

They report stated that later in the police cruiser Belfour began begging officers not to take him to jail by offering them $100,000, then progressively higher amounts until reaching $1 billion.

I would have taken him to an ATM to get his hopes up a bit. Then, when he couldn't deliver, I'd say, "Sorry, man."

Back to baseball:

1983
Free-agent OF Warren Cromartie signs a reported 3-year, $2.5 million contract to play for Japan's Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The 30-year-old Cromartie, who hit .278 for the Expos last season, is the best American player to jump to Japan while still in his prime.

Cromartie was part of a very good Expo outfield in the late 1970's that included Andre Dawson and Ellis Valentine. Then, Cromartie made a move to first base to allow Ron LeFlore to take over in 1980. One year later, Tim Raines was playing in the outfield with Dawson and Valentine. Valentine left after the 1981 season and Cromartie was in the outfield with Raines and Dawson. Those were some very good Expo teams back then.

How did Cromartie do in Japan? He played seven seasons and was named Central League MVP in 1989 and was very productive. He even wrote a book:
The review is HERE. The review points out that Robert Whiting is also the author of You Gotta Have Wa, a great book about Americans playing baseball in Japan.

Back to Airwolf for a few minutes.