Minor league baseball: 15 players and 2 head coaches ejected, 1 player arrested for felonious assault after (allegedly) hitting a fan in the forehead with a ball, fan sent to hospital.

This was insane.  You see baseball fights, but this one gets out of control quick.  Imagine if a little kid had been struck in the head with the baseball the pitcher whipped into the stands…..

ESPN

DAYTON, Ohio — A minor league pitcher accused of throwing a ball that hit a fan in the forehead during a bench-clearing brawl was charged with felonious assault, ordered held on $50,000 bond and directed to surrender his passport.

Peoria Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo was arrested Thursday following a fight between the Class-A Chiefs and Dayton Dragons. Umpires ejected 15 players and the teams’ managers after the 10-minute brawl ended.

Video from the game shows the 21-year-old Castillo angrily throwing a ball, but doesn’t show where it landed.

Police identified the fan as Chris McCarthy, 44, of Middletown, and said he was hit in the forehead, the Dayton Daily News reported. Fans told police that McCarthy was knocked senseless and became incoherent.

The fan was treated and released at Miami Valley Hospital on Thursday night, said hospital spokeswoman Nancy Thickel. She didn’t know the extent of the fan’s injuries.

Castillo was arraigned by video from the Montgomery County jail on Friday and ordered held on bond. Dayton Municipal Judge Carl Henderson also required Castillo, who is from the Dominican Republic, to give up his passport.

“This charge is a result of outlandish and inexcusable conduct by a professional baseball player,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. said in a statement.

If convicted, Castillo would face up to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Dressed in jail blues, he stood with his arms folded behind his back and showed little emotion. He was flanked by his attorney and an interpreter. Castillo said he has been in the United States for a month and has been living with teammates in Peoria.

Defense attorney Kevin Braig had asked Castillo’s release.

“He is employed gainfully by the Peoria Chiefs,” Braig told the judge. “He has no history of prior offenses. I’ve been in contact with the club. This matter is being taken serious.”

A message seeking comment was left with Braig.

Dragons spokesman Tom Nichols said no mention of the brawl would be made during Friday’s game with Peoria, the final of a three-game series. Pregame warmups went without incident, with the players running, stretching and throwing on opposite sides of the outfield.

“I think what you’re going to find is even a more controlled atmosphere tonight,” said Jonathan Maurer, who brought his wife and their three children – ages 9, 8 and 5 – to Friday’s game.

The first few innings went smoothly, with no sign of any animosity between the teams. No batters were hit and there were few inside pitches.

The Dragons are affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds, while the Chiefs are affiliated with the Chicago Cubs.

Three Peoria batters were hit in Wednesday’s game between the clubs. After a Peoria player was hit in the top of the first on Thursday, Castillo hit two batters in the bottom half – one in the head. The second batter hit by Castillo, Angel Cabrerra, made an aggressive slide into second to break up a double play.

Castillo followed that by throwing his next pitch up-and-in, prompting Dayton manager Donnie Scott to complain to the home plate umpire. Interim Peoria manager Carmelo Martinez — filling in for Ryne Sandberg — came onto the field to join the discussion.

The two managers began arguing, and when Martinez pushed Scott, the benches emptied.

The teams protested the ejections by phone to Midwest League president George Spelius, saying they didn’t want pitchers playing in the outfield to finish the game. After an hour delay, the players who were ejected were allowed to come back and the game resumed. Dayton won 6-5.

“I wanted the game to continue, really for the fans,” Spelius said Friday. He said he warned both managers that there would be severe consequences for any further incidents in Thursday’s game.

Spelius said Friday that he spoke to the umpires about the brawl. He planned to read a report, review video footage and talk to team officials before imposing sanctions that could include fines and suspensions.

“He’ll hand down the appropriate punishments he deems necessary,” Chiefs spokesman Nathan Baliva said.

Aaron Brown, a fan who was standing in the lower section of the stadium near home plate, said the fight was sad for baseball. Players ran out of the dugout, and “all hell broke loose,” he said.

“You see paramedics running into the stands. Just when you think it ends, there is another group trying to fight. I was really surprised they continued the game,” said the 28-year-old from Columbus. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

ESPN video-very brief, but gives you an idea of how bad it got.

Fan video shot at the game, longer, shaky, cell phone footage and some NSFW language, but it gives a much better view of the entire incident.  Lots of fights…..and notice the pitcher who struck a fan in the stands with a ball picks up a bat to go after another fan that threw a beer at him.  Use your hands if you’re going to fight…..

Establish your own gun-free zones

It’s really this simple. Watch criminals turn right around and leave you alone.

A battle of “cultures”-Emos vs. punks and metalheads

Apparently, there’s a burgeoning Emo scene in Mexico, which may have something to do with the wave of immigrants coming to the U.S.  More research is needed on that.   Anyway, as if the news that Emo has spread to Mexico isn’t sad enough, apparently the Emo kids have been targets of violence lately. Punks and metal kids can’t stand emos for “ripping off the scene.” Yes, that’s right, the pinnacle of culture that manifests itself in punk and metal kids is in danger of being denigrated. Ck. out this MTV News clip detailing animosity between the 3 <gulp> cultures.

 

My favorite, and most accurate, Emo video, “Tickle Me Emo” from Mad TV.

 

Caught on video: Memphis police officer beats the living hell out of transsexual

Video and story

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) –Video obtained by Action News 5 shows a Memphis police officer beating a suspect at 201 Poplar in an apparent case of police brutality.

The video, recorded February 12th, shows Duanna Johnson in the booking area at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center after an arrest for prostitution. The tape clearly shows a Memphis police officer walk over to Johnson – a transsexual – and hit her in the face several times.

“Actually he was trying to get me to come over to where he was, and I responded by telling him that wasn’t my name – that my mother didn’t name me a ‘faggot’ or a ‘he-she,’ so he got upset and approached me. And that’s when it started,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the officer was attempting to call her over to be fingerprinted. She said she chose not respond to the derogatory name the officer called her.

“He said, ‘I’m telling you, I’m giving you one more chance to get up.’ So I’m looking at him, and he started putting his gloves on, and seen him take out a pair of handcuffs,” Johnson said.

The officer hit Johnson several times with the handcuffs wrapped around his knuckles. In the video, you can see the flash of the metal. The tape shows another officer holding Johnson’s shoulders as she tries to protect herself.

After taking several blows, Johnson stands up and swings back.

“I was afraid. I had had enough. Like I said, I thought the other officers that were witnessing this would at least try to stop him,” Johnson said. “I mean, he hit me so hard. Like the third time he hit me, it split my skull and I had blood coming out. So I jumped up,” Johnson said.

But then she sat back down, and the officer her in the face again. Then he maced her. On the tape, other people in the room are seen turning away and fanning their hands because of the smell.

“We wanted some acknowledgement – my client did – so she would know that the Memphis Police Department didn’t condone this,” said Murray Wells, Johnson’s attorney. “We were optimistic that they would be as outraged about this as we are, and we haven’t gotten any indication that they’re interested in it at all.

“These are the people we depend on to protect us, and I think the majority of officers in Memphis are good officers, and when you see what you see on that video, it’s a scary sight to see that that could happen to any one of us,” added attorney Arthur Horne.

On the tape, Duanna is eventually handcuffed and left on the floor. A nurse comes in, and goes directly to the officer.

“I couldn’t breathe, and they just made me lay there,” Johnson said. “Nobody checked to see if I was okay. My eyes were burning. My skin was burning. I was scared to death. Even the nurse came in and she just ignored me, and I begged her to help me.”

The video clearly shows the nurse walk right past Duanna as she’s rocking back and forth in pain in the background.

A copy of the tape was reviewed by both the FBI and the District Attorney’s office, the latter of which dropped all charges against Johnson. An FBI investigation into possible civil rights violations is still underway.

Meanwhile, the Memphis Police Department confirmed to Action News 5 that the officer holding Johnson was on probation, and has been fired. The officer who threw the punches is currently on non-enforcement status pending an administrative hearing.

---

Wednesday morning, the following statement was released by the Memphis Police Department:

The Memphis Police Department does not condone any misconduct of a police officer that will compromise official law enforcement duties or the rights or safety of our citizens.

As it relates to the February incident that occurred at the jail facility, the police department has been conducting a thorough internal investigation. The details surrounding the complainant, witnesses and law enforcement officials’ statements are part of an ongoing investigation and can not be released at this time.

As a standard departmental policy, a full, impartial hearing will be held with the accused officer.

Memphis Police can confirm the work status of the two primary officers involved in this complaint. Officer J. Swain was a probationary officer and has been separated from the Memphis Police Department. Officer B. McRae has been placed on non-enforcement status pending an administrative hearing.

Memphis Police can also confirm the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been notified and requested to look into the complaint further.

Regards,

Detective Monique Y. Martin
Memphis Police Department
Office of Public Information/Media Relations

“Anatomy of a Basebrawl” or “Why Sports Teach Valuable Lessons About Consequences”

I love baseball for many reasons. And the following is just one example. Like many sports, baseball has certain unwritten rules and practices among the players and managers. For example, if you’re a pitcher that is retaliating at another team/player, you don’t throw at another player’s head.

So, the other night, the Red Sox play the Tampa Bay (Devil)Rays. Red Sox player Coco Crisp is on 1st base and he attempts to steal second. As he slides in head-first, Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett takes the catcher’s throw and drops his knee in front of the base. This is a big no-no in baseball. Crisp could’ve been seriously injured, and in fact, he sprained his wrist because of it.

So, the next time Crisp is on first, he attempts to steal second base….and watch what happens.

So, seemingly, the issue would be settled. I love how baseball polices itself. No whining lawyers, just an understanding that if you break some of the unwritten rules, you will get punished one way or the other. The players know this, too. That Rays shortstop knew he wasn’t going to get away with his stunt. Unfortunately, he didn’t receive the payback.

So, the issue should’ve been settled, but apparently the Rays didn’t watch video of the original incident. So, as the next day, Crisp gets beaned, fakes like he’s going to take his base and then…..IT’S ON

Yeah, I suppose the brawl undermines my case for baseball policing itself, but hey, it’s still fun to watch.

When drum circles go bad. 3 shot at Seattle Folklife Festival.

Come on, people! A shooting at a folk-festival? This isn’t a Wu-Tang show, you don’t boost your street cred with hippie folk by brandishing a gun..or a bar of soap for that matter. Guns and soap, two things you do NOT bring to a drum circle.