Posted on Wed Aug 15, 2007 at 10:23:56 AM EST in Other Sports
More on: baseball, crime, Jose Offerman, Ducks, Bluefish, fight (all tags)

Former MLBer and current Long Island Ducks shortstop Jose Offerman was arrested on Tuesday night after he went ballistic and attacked Bridgeport Bluefish pitcher Matt Beech with his bat following a beaning in the second inning.

The game started off pretty good for Offerman as he homered in the first inning, but a fastball to the calf in the second caused Offerman to charge the mound, bat in hand, and a major league fight broke out in the minors. Offerman was charged with a second-degree assault and reportedly got out of the pokey after posting the $10,000 bond.

He hit him with a cut fastball in the left calf," Bluefish manager Tommy John said. "And the next thing you know, Offerman's going to the mound with his bat over his head taking swings at Beech. He took at least two, maybe even three [swings].

Luckily, the only thing that was seriously injured in the scuffle was Offerman's integrity. The focus of Offerman's fury escaped the assault with a broken middle finger on his non-throwing hand, but catcher John Nathans ended up being an unintentional victim in the whole ordeal as he went home sporting symptoms of a concussion.

It may have only been John Nathans taking one on the backswing in the head to have saved Matt Beech from really taking one in the face," said Bluefish pitcher Mike Porzio.

Listen, we love a good dust-up as much as the next guy, but is this baseball or a reenactment of the infamous brawl in The Warriors? Whatever happened to simply charging the mound and matching fists with the guy? Maybe Offerman was afraid something like this would happen.

Links:
[NewsDay.com]: Ducks' Offerman, wielding bat, attacks pitcher

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