No legal charges come from Mets players' flap at pizzeria
By wire services
Published March 7, 2004
PORT ST. LUCIE - The assistant manager of a pizzeria where Mets outfielders Karim Garcia and Shane Spencer were involved in a confrontation Thursday night said Saturday that his employees won't pursue legal action, apparently closing the incident.
Mets GM Jim Duquette apologized to the corporate owners of Big Apple Pizza and said the Mets will discipline Garcia and Spencer internally, though their standing on the team won't be affected.
According to Joshua Morrison, 17, a cook at the pizzeria who witnessed the incident, Garcia exited adjacent Duffy's Sports Grille and began urinating near the businesses. Pizzeria employees confronted Garcia, and he and Spencer began driving away.
Eric Vidal, 18, a returning delivery boy, chased the Hummer on foot, yelling, and eventually Garcia and Spencer stopped in the shopping center parking lot and got out of the vehicle. Morrison said the delivery man backpedaled and fell into bushes lining the sidewalk in front of the establishments, though one report on Saturday claimed Spencer had punched Vidal. Spencer denied that report.
A bouncer from Duffy's broke up the incident without further escalation, and Spencer and Garcia, who was irate and muttering in Spanish, drove off.
Duquette acknowledged that accounts from the players and other witnesses differ, but he decided to close the matter. Walter Bandyk, 33, the pizzeria's assistant manager, told the New York Daily News that the players lied about not throwing punches.
"Yeah, he fell down or something," Bandyk said dryly. "There's always an excuse. I'm just (upset) the guy (Spencer) lied about it and said he didn't do it."
Marge Schott buried
Marge Schott, the former Reds majority owner who clashed with baseball's leadership and was a community philanthropist, was buried in a suit of her favorite color: red.
Schott's past suspensions for remarks insensitive to blacks and Jews were overlooked on a day on which Pete Rose, players and executives, politicians and friends memorialized her 75-year life.
"Actions speak louder than words," Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench said. "I judged her by her actions. She had a big heart."
She was buried in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery, Ohio, where slugger Ted Kluszewski was interred in 1988.
ASTROS: Roger Clemens, who joined the team in the offseason, pitches today against Pittsburgh at Bradenton.
ATHLETICS: Oakland homered six times and had 27 hits in a 26-3 stomping of the Angels. It was Oakland's highest-scoring spring training game since records first were kept in 1986. The A's scored 25 runs in an exhibition game against the Mariners last year. "Twenty-six runs - I've never seen that kind of offensive display before," manager Ken Macha said.
CUBS: Greg Maddux pitches today in a split-squad game against the Royals. Maddux, who signed with the Cubs as a free agent in February, began his career with the Cubs but left for Atlanta as a free agent after the 1992 season. Maddux has impressed Cubs manager Dusty Baker with his work ethic. "In the morning, he beats most of us here - most of the coaches," Baker said.
INDIANS: Infielder John McDonald and right-hander Jack Cressend signed one-year contracts, leaving outfielder Jody Gerut the only unsigned player in the organization. The team also signed right-hander Roy Smith to a minor-league contract.
TIGERS: Manager Alan Trammell said centerfielder Alex Sanchez, hit by a pitch above his right elbow Friday, will play today.
