OK, I can understand someone losing their cool during the heat of a sporting event, but Peoria Chief's pitcher Julio Castillo came completely unglued yesterday in a minor league baseball game in Dayton, Ohio. During a brawl, he wound up throwing a baseball at maximum velocity in the direction of the opposing dugout but ended up hitting a fan. He has been charged with assault. First of all, baseball fights are supposed to be amusing. Usually there's lots of flailing around and roundhouse punches and guys pretending to be held back from the fracas. And there are not supposed to be weapons in baseball. I mean a pitcher would have to be seriously 'roided up, for example, for a pitcher to throw a shorn off bat fragment at a batter. Uh, oh, well ... that almost never happens. My point is that Julio Castillo needs to understand that throwing baseballs at 90 miles an hour into the stands, seriously injuring fans and ending up being charged criminally is not the best road to the big leagues. Let's just hope the fan is not seriously injured. And let's get Julio some anger management. I mean it was the first inning. How angry could anyone be in the first inning?
One of my favorite Walt Frasier moments as a New York Knicks broadcaster was when, after seeing a female fan get struck in the face with a basketball while chatting with a friend (and turned away from the action), Walt said, "that's why I like my women bodacious and not loquacious!" Bottomline: keep your wits about you when you're at a sporting event. You never know when a crazed lunatic will start drilling fans with baseballs.
2 comments:
Your sage advice applies to life in general: Every waking moment, I think I'm going to get hit in the face with a baseball. Thankfully, it's only happened eighteen times since moving to Atlanta. Strangest time: while eating happy-hour oysters at Fontaine's.
I always said eating oysters was dangerous.
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