BOSTON - Former Yankees pitcher Jeff Nelson testified Friday that Red Sox part-time groundskeeper Paul Williams provoked the brawl in the Yankees bullpen at Fenway Park during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series by spitting in Nelson's face and throwing a punch.
"He was waving a white towel and I walked over and asked him does he mind going over to the Red Sox bullpen and doing it," Nelson told Clerk Magistrate Michael Neighbors during a show-cause hearing on an assault and battery complaint brought by police in Roxbury District Court.
The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Nelson, 37, who is now a free agent, said on the witness stand that the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Williams, an eighth-grade teacher in Derry, N.H.,"started getting in my face. ... He turned and bumped my nose and started cussing and spitting. When he swung, I ducked and it missed. One of the guys grabbed me and pulled me away."
Williams, 24, denied both spitting and throwing any punches during the Oct. 11 melee that included rightfielder Karim Garcia, who jumped over the bullpen fence, and other Yankees personnel and Fenway security. Williams related a different version of the incident during the proceeding.
About two weeks ago, Nelson filed a cross-complaint against Williams. Neighbors, who presided over the 75-minute hearing, reserved his decision on both matters until Wednesday. The misdemeanor charge has a maximum penalty of 30 months in jail and a $500 fine.
Williams, who was posted in the bullpen, testified that he had been waving the towel toward fans after the Sox had completed a ninth-inning double play. He said he didn't notice Nelson approach.
Williams said Nelson demanded that he leave the bullpen. "I said, "Dude, you do your job and I'll do my job,"' Williams testified. "He grabbed on to my shirt."
BRAVES: Earl Gillespie, the radio voice in Milwaukee during the team's championship seasons in the 1950s, died at 81.
DODGERS: Frank McCourt has completed the application for his proposed $430-million purchase of the team, and the deal could be put to a vote by owners next month.
METS: New York hopes to snare Mike Cameron by the time the winter meetings conclude.
The two-time Gold Glove centerfielder is in New Orleans, according to Mets general manager Jim Duquette, who would love to see him in the outfield at Shea Stadium next season. Oakland and other teams are also interested.
"I think we've done what we can in items of trying to educate him about the organization," Duquette said.
RED SOX: Keith Foulke, considered the top closer on the market, kept Boston waiting.
Foulke is mulling an offer from the Red Sox as well as the Athletics, for whom he went 9-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 43 saves last season.
"He's an intelligent, thoughtful guy making a big decision," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said.
