Sausages vs. Pierogies - Cheating by the Pirates?

[Brian R.]

washingtonpost.com
Pirates' Simon Won't Face Charges for Hitting Woman

By Juliet Williams
Associated Press
Thursday, July 10, 2003; 3:04 PM

MILWAUKEE - Pittsburgh first baseman Randall Simon will not face charges for hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers' sausage mascots with his bat during a game.

Prosecutors said Thursday they made the decision after reviewing tape of Wednesday night's game.

The women "were not interested in having him charged criminally" and did not believe Simon meant to hurt them, Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin said

Simon was cited by the sheriff's department for disorderly conduct and fined $432. He can contest the citation at a Sept. 3 hearing.

Simon maintains he did not deliberately try to knock down the female mascot.

"That wasn't my intention in my heart for that to happen," he said before Thursday's Brewers-Pirates game. "I was just trying to get a tap at the costume and for her to finish the race."

Simon said he hopes to apologize to the woman before he leaves Milwaukee.

"I thought at the moment they were trying to play with us. They were running right next to the players," he said. "I'm a fun player, and I've never hurt anyone in my life."

Simon was taken to the Milwaukee County Jail after the game, won 2-1 by the Brewers in 12 innings. He was booked, released and ordered to appear in the district attorney's office.

Simon had been handcuffed in what is standard procedure for those taken to jail, Deputy Inspector Sherry Warichak of the sheriff's department said. She said he was "totally cooperative."

Four people in sausage costumes race around the infield warning track between the sixth and seventh innings at Brewers' games to entertain fans.

When the group went past the Pirates' dugout, Simon took a half swing at the Italian sausage character, hitting her from behind and causing her to tumble. When she fell, she knocked over the woman dressed as the hot dog.

"They both were treated at the scene for scraped knees, but at this point I don't think they have any other complaints," Warichak said.

Warichak identified the person in the Italian sausage costume as an 18-year-old woman from South Milwaukee whose first name is Mandy, and the person in the hot dog costume as a 21-year-old woman whose first name is Veronica.

The deputy inspector and Brewers spokesman Jon Greenberg declined to identify them further.

"The Pittsburgh Pirates apologize to the Milwaukee Brewers organization and to the Brewers' fans for this unfortunate incident," the team said.

Rick Schlessinger, Brewers' executive vice president for business operations, called Simon's conduct "one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen inside a ballpark or outside a ballpark. It sickened me to see it."

Greenberg said the racing sausages were scheduled to compete against racing pierogies (dumplings) at a series with the Pirates in Pittsburgh Aug. 15-17 and then again during a series between the teams Aug. 22-24 at Milwaukee.

Associated Press writer Tim Cigelske in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

© 2003 The Associated Press

Stranger than Fiction...

[Goc]

Bizarre... What a waste of letters. That's news?!?!?

[Dr Mordrid]

No more a waste than the coverage you guys give soccer riots

Dr. Mordrid

[Goc]

Agreed!

[seether]

Completely blown out of proportion though -

It was a very stupid, but not malicious thing to do. He had a brain fart and thought it would be funny to goof around with her, not at her expense. Totally not appropriate, but I'd bet money if it happened without the national tv coverage and ~50,000 spectators everyone, girl included would've been laughing their asses off.

No big deal, but I find it sad that this has garnered so much attention while things like the Kobe Bryant incident catches no more than a small "oh, by the way ..." paragraph in the local papers.

[paulcs]

I don't consider myself a baseball purist. I don't think the designated hitter or interleague play signal the end of western civilization. I don't care if the All Star Game (or any exhibition game) ends in a tie. However, I'd like to go on the record as objecting to giant bratwurst, italian sausage, hot dogs, and pierogies running around the field.

Simon managed to nail the sausage and the hot dog with one swing of the bat. I say set him loose on the pierogies.

Paul

[Goc]

paulcs!

[Brian R.]

Follow-up

washingtonpost.com

A Teeny Weenie Fine
Clubbing of Brewers' Sausage Mascot Costs Pirates' Simon $432

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 11, 2003; Page D01

Wurst came to worst late Wednesday night when a Pittsburgh Pirates player was arrested on battery charges and later cited for disorderly conduct after hitting an Italian sausage mascot in Milwaukee with a bat.

Pirates first baseman Randall Simon received a $432 fine for using a half-swing to topple one of the four mascots participating in the customary race of the sausages between innings at Miller Park.

The teetering sausage, beaned by Simon in front of the Pirates' dugout, tumbled into the hot dog running alongside and both fell. The two women inside the costumes were treated at the ballpark for skinned knees, a sheriff's spokesman said. The bratwurst and Polish sausage were uninjured.

The incident set off an investigation by the Milwaukee District Attorney's Office -- which decided yesterday against filing criminal charges -- and caused a contrite Simon to insist that he had no intention of smoking the meats.

"I wasn't trying to knock her out," Simon told reporters before Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory in Milwaukee yesterday. "I was trying to tap the head and let her finish the race. Unfortunately, she lost her balance."

Immediately after the game, Simon was read his Miranda rights, arrested, handcuffed and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail, where he was released after being photographed and fingerprinted. The police report indicated that he was "cooperative." He later explained that he had nudged the mascot in fun.

"I thought at the moment they were trying to play with us," he told reporters. "They were running right next to the players."

At 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Simon met for two hours with Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin, who said he also grilled the hot dog, Italian sausage and one independent witness. Reddin said the injured mascots, Brewers employees identified by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as Mandy Block (the sausage), 19, and Veronica Piech, 21, agreed that Simon did not intend to hurt them.

Block, who reportedly stands 5 feet 3 and comes up only to the waist of the oversize sausage suit, requested an autographed bat from Simon, who signed bats for both women and gave them to the Brewers.

"We had no intention of prosecuting this criminally," Reddin said, adding with a chuckle that "this is the wurst case I've ever had."

The Brewers' chairman of the board is Wendy Selig-Prieb, daughter of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who relinquished his ownership of the Brewers when he assumed his current post full-time.

In a statement, Selig said baseball officials were reviewing the situation. "Obviously, the type of behavior exhibited by Mr. Simon is anathema to the family entertainment that we are trying to provide in our ballparks and is wholly unacceptable," Selig said in the statement.

The mascots are sponsored by the Klement's Sausage Co., which sells sausage products at Miller Park. James Klement, co-president of the company, said from its Milwaukee office that he was "shocked and disappointed" in Simon's action, but acknowledged that the costumes -- more than eight feet tall and about 50 pounds -- are susceptible to toppling.

"Those sausage costumes are very top-heavy," he said. "Any slight off-balance [action], the wind, anything, can tip it over pretty quickly. . . . you still shouldn't be fooling around with a bat in that area."

Simon swung his bat at the sausage as it ran within arm's length of the dugout. Struggling to get up, the Italian sausage was helped to its feet by the Polish sausage. The hot dog got up without assistance and resumed the competition. The bratwurst, unencumbered, waddled to victory in the event, which is normally a public relations "race" that the participants take turns winning.

The incident was a meaty one for 24-hour sports Web sites and TV networks. A tape of the incident was replayed continuously on espn.com and msnbc.com. NBC's "Today Show'' featured the knockdown and ESPN News reports called it "Sausagegate."

The Pirates issued a statement yesterday apologizing for the incident and saying it would be dealt with internally.

Brewers executive vice president Rick Schlessinger said two scheduled races between the Brewers' Racing Sausages and the Pirates' team of racing pirogis were still on. The mascot challenges are set for Aug. 15 in Pittsburgh and Aug. 22 in Milwaukee.

"Right now," Pittsburgh director of media relations Jim Trdinich said about the upcoming contests, "it's no holds barred."

Simon was booed at yesterday's game in his only appearance, when he was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. He grounded out.

"I've never been in any situation like this," Simon said. "I've never hurt anybody in my life."

Deputy Inspector Sherry Warichak of the Milwaukee sheriff's office said a number of callers had complained about the light-hearted characterization of the beaning by the media.

"The bottom line is that the guy hit somebody with a baseball bat," she said. "As comical as the sausage issue is, it still has to be looked at seriously and reasonably, which we have done and the district attorney's office did."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company