Every week, we here at The Outside Corner do are best to bring you the latest and greatest analysis from the world of Major League Baseball, but we are but humble bloggers and can’t quite cover every single bit of news as it happens. But when those stories do slip past our watchful eyes, Garrett Wilson is here to catch them with the weekly edition of Just A Bit Outside…
A Suspect Has Finally Been Arrested in the Brutal Beating of Giant Fan Bryan Stow
As a Southern California resident, I can only begin to tell you how staggering this news is. The Dodgers have been getting reamed all season long for this tragic event and most everyone had long since given up on any of the people responsible ever being brought to justice. Everyone is hoping that the arrest of this first suspect will lead to the subsequent arrest of his two accomplices. Of course, this will do nothing to help Stow’s recovery as he remains in a coma, but it will help provide his family with some sense of justice or closure that the monsters responsible will pay for their crime. This story will definitely remain major news until all the suspects have been arrested and tried, but at least Dodger fans can finally start to put the ugliness behind them.
In related news, the family of Bryan Stow has recently decided to sue the Dodgers for, well, a ton of money because of their negligence in regards to security. I hate to say it, but this part could actually make things much uglier. As far as I am concerned, the Stow family is entitled to any amount of money that the courts see fit to give them, and I would hope that the Dodger owners agree. The problem is that the Dodger owners are currently the McCourt family and they aren’t exactly well regarded for their moral integrity, nor are they exactly in a great financial position to give Stow’s family the compensation they deserve. MLB has stepped in to take control of the Dodgers, so one would hope Commissioner Selig will see to it that this court case is resolved quickly and amicably, but Frank McCourt has pretty much been indignant at every step of the way and will undoubtedly balk at the idea of paying over tens of millions of dollars from the team coffers that he has spent the last few years raiding for his own personal gratification. What’s worse is that a pending judgment of potentially $50 million could make a potential sale of the Dodgers to an owner that isn’t a broke, dim-witted adulterer even more complicated than it already is.
Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter Has Several Brain Tumors
Wow, what hasn’t gone wrong for the Mets this season? (Too soon?)
It was revealed earlier this week that Carter has four small tumors in his brain. This sounds dire because, well, I anytime the words “brain” and “tumor” are used in the same sentence, it is almost always pretty dire, but there is a shot that Carter might be an exception. Carter doesn’t have a prognosis for his condition yet, but he was scheduled to meet with specialists yesterday and willl likely undergo surgery then as well, so an update would seem to be in the offing… assuming Carter feels like sharing his medical condition with the rest of the world.
Carter was known as “The Kid” during his playing days because of his youthful exuberance for the game. He was also the owner of one of the most badass perm mullets to ever grace the planet. Wish him well as he battles this frightening medical situation.
A Fan Died After an Accidental Fall at a Rockies Game
Yeesh, this edition of Just a Bit Outside is incredibly depressing. Apparently the young man was trying to slide down a rail and ended up falling to 20-feet, suffering massive head trauma in the process. What is truly tragic about this is that the man, Robert Seamans, was attending a makeup game. The Arizona-Colorado game he was at originally got rained out back on April 3rd and obviously one can’t help but wonder if this confluence of deadly circumstances would have ever come to pass had it just not rained back on April 3rd.
The Mets Agreed to Sell a $200 Million Stake in the Team to David Einhorn
Einhorn! Finkle? Einhorn? Einhorn? Finkle? Einhorn is Finkle. Finkle is Einhorn. Einhorn is a man!!!!!
Actually, Einhorn is just a new minority investor in the Mets, but it is a pretty big minority, that is assuming MLB approves the deal. As we all know too well, the Mets are desperate for cash since the Wilpons got scammed in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme. So, clearly the logical move is to give a significant stake of their a financial investment advisor… just like Madoff. Oh, Wilpons, will you ever learn?
There is actually little reason to believe that Einhorn will be anything but a help to the Mets. As such, barring him being caught on tape throwing a burning bag full of kittens of a cliff, MLB should approve his purchase rather quickly so the Mets don’t turn into an East Coast version of the Dodgers (only with less adultery and psychics). The other owners would be wise to ponder this transaction closely as there is a very good chance that Einhorn could someday soon go from minority investor to majority owner. Guys like Einhorn don’t pay up big bucks like that just so they can tell their buddies at the yacht club that they own a piece of the fourth place team in the NL East. At some point, Einhorn is going to want a say in how the team is run both on and off the field.
Orlando Cabrera Became a US Citizen Last Week
This is the first time that I can remember that an active player has become a US citizen (to be fair, my memory is terrible, there is a pretty good chance that I will say Cabrera still plays for the Expos sometime in the next few sentences). Cabrera is arguably the best Colombian born big leaguer of all time, and really there are only a handful to choose from, so it actually makes me wonder whether or not this news would be well received in his home country since I could understand how some folks might feel he is turning his back on Colombia. One person I would love to hear from is fellow Colombian Edgar Renteria, a man who is not shy about his love for Colombia or his disdain for Orlando Cabrera after the two feuded over management of the Colombian professional baseball winter league.
Brandon Phillips Random Attended the Baseball Game of a 14-Year Old Twitter Follower
14 years old, eh? Has anyone checked to see if Chris Hanson was at the game too? Just kidding (don’t sue me).
Apparently the young man in question tweeted an invitation to the game to Phillips just for kicks, but was shocked to see that Phillips actually accepted the invitation and showed up because he had nothing better to do on his off day. I think there are two lessons that can be learned from this event:
- If Brandon Phillips is really that bored, he needs to get himself either a girlfriend of a PlayStation 3 or both.
- Cyberstalking celebrities can pay off! I’m totally going to tweet invitations to all my favorite players to come over to my house and watch me blog now. Either that or I’ll just keep harassing Megan Fox over Twitter now that there is some hope that she’ll accept one of my lewd offers. Yeah, I’ll probably go with that latter option, especially since the restraining order expires in a few days.
The DUI Charge Against Derek Lowe Has Been Dropped
Hooray! Maybe MLB doesn’t have a terrible problem with DUIs after all. Either that or Lowe is just really good at field sobriety tests. Even better for Lowe is that the reckless driving charge against him for the alleged drag racing that he had been doing before his arrest was dismissed as well. I suppose the takeaway here is that maybe all of our vitriolic reaction to the rash of MLB DUI incidents was perhaps a little hasty. This is America (except for the Blue Jays) and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, so for all of us calling for harsher reactions by the league office, maybe it is best to wait for the legal issues to be resolved before MLB doles out punishment.
What’s that? MLB doesn’t even dole out punishment after someone has been found guilty in a court of law?
Ok, maybe we don’t have this problem licked just yet. But at least Derek Lowe won’t have any legal problems to deal with now, so, we’ve got that going for us.
