7/31/2008

Last thing for today on the brawl

I haven't seen anything yet, but fines and suspensions were supposed to come down on the Chiefs and Dragons today. But, there was this:
"I don't want to talk numbers right now," said Spelius, mindful that eight Dragons, seven Peoria Chiefs and both managers were originally ejected from the game, although all were reinstated pending Spelius' investigation.

He did say Peoria pitcher Julio Castillo would not be banned for life, as some have suggested.

"I can't do that," said Spelius, who has been studying umpire reports and tapes of the brawl at Fifth Third Field. "I'm just a Class A president. I don't have the right to suspend for life."

Really? From 2003:

Inland Empire, before this season known as San Bernardino, made headlines this summer, but not in the way the Mariners would have preferred.

On Aug. 18, in the 15th inning of a game against Lancaster, 66ers second baseman Evel Bastida-Martinez was hit by a pitch from Josh Kranawetter. He charged the mound -- and brought his bat.

Bastida-Martinez took a squared-up, two-handed swing at Kranawetter's lower back.

"It was the ugliest thing I've ever been a part of," said Castellano, who was on second base after doubling to put Inland Empire up by three runs. "I've been in brawls, and they're all basically the same. This wasn't like that at all. It wasn't really a brawl, it was more like a bunch of us trying to defend one guy who made a huge mistake.

"A young kid gets caught up in the moment. It could have happened to me. It could have happened to anyone."

Could it really have happened to you?

"No," Castellano admits. "There's nothing that could make me bring a bat to the mound."

Kranawetter was not injured as badly as he might have been, sustaining a deep bruise, but was lost for the season. Bastida-Martinez, who was suspended for the season by the Mariners, was arrested Friday by San Bernardino police on a warrant for assault with a deadly weapon.

The Mariners won't decide until after the season whether to release the 24-year-old Cuban, who came to America on a raft in 2000.

"We're having him evaluated by a Spanish-speaking psychiatrist for two reasons," Mariners farm director Benny Looper said. "One, so we can get some feedback from him on the potential of this happening again. Secondly, if the player needs some help, we want to provide the help for him. We'll do what we think is right."

"We felt like we had to back him up as a teammate (at the time), but then you realize that maybe he's ended his whole career," said Menchaca, who counts himself among Bastida-Martinez's friends. "What's done is done, but that's for sure an experience I'll take with me the rest of my life."

According to baseball-reference.

He was suspended indefinitely and later charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 200 hours and community service and anger management counseling.

I'm pretty sure that indefinite turned into a lifetime ban from the California League. That was why he came back to the Rattlers in 2004.

No comments:

Site Meter