This one was not.
The Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer was in a Montgomery County Common Pleas courtroom Wednesday, July 22, to testify on behalf of Julio Castillo.
One of his former players, Castillo’s been indicted on two counts of felonious assault for throwing a baseball that hit a fan in the head during a brawl between the Dayton Dragons and Peoria Chiefs at Fifth Third Field on July 24, 2008.
Sandberg was the manager of the Chiefs, but was not in Dayton the night of the melee. He had gone to Cooperstown, N.Y. for Hall of Fame activities.
Now the manager of AA Tennessee Smokies — like the Chiefs, a Cubs farm team — Sandberg came to Dayton to talk about Castillo’s “good” character.
During his appearance — in a demonstration more theater than compelling testimony — he was brought from the witness stand onto the courtroom floor by defense attorney Dennis Lieberman to show the differences between a pitcher throwing from the mound and the way an infielder might throw a ball.
With Judge Connie Price — who’ll render the verdict — watching from the bench, there was one surreal moment.
“Were you an infielder?” Lieberman asked.
“Yes, I played infield,” Sandberg, one of the greatest second basemen ever to play he game, said without clarification.
And with that he uncorked a couple of imaginary throws for Lieberman. After showing how an infielder might throw to first base — and stopping to make sure his pressed pink dress shirt was still tucked into his cream-colored slacks — the tanned and still very fit Sandberg, who’s now near 50, went through a wind-up and throw as though he were on the mound.
The Cubs feel Castillo has been over-charged in this case — if convicted he could get up to eight years in prison — and Michael Lufrano, their general counsel and a vice president in the organization, addressed that:
“Julio knows he made a mistake and would have willingly pled guilty to a misdemeanor, but he’s not a felon. I don’t know why the prosector’s office is spending the resources of the Montgomery County taxpayers and pressing this. I’ve heard rumors it’s because the AP and ESPN and the national media will pick up on it and get them publicity and, if that’s the case, it’s unfortunate.”
The prosecution bristles at that and says Castillo’s throw — which sent Chris McCarthy to the hospital with a concussion and a headache when he went home that night — could have been deadly. And it says Castillo made the throw in anger.
In a private interview after his testimony, Sandberg questioned that and offered some other opinions about Castillo:
“He was always a very respectful young man and I never had any problem with him. I don’t condone any kind of retaliatory behavior — that’s not how I played and not how I teach the game — and I don’t think that was what he doing here.
“He made a mistake — you don’t throw a baseball — but I think he was throwing the ball at the dugout, trying to send a warning to the Dragons players to stay back. I don’t think he tried to hit someone and it is unfortunate that it did.
“I’ve seen a lot of baseball brawls over the years involving all kinds of incidents. Guys swinging bats, throwing baseballs, spiking people, punching them. Baseball has always dealt with these things, first with the umpires and then with suspensions and fines.
“It seems to me Julio was singled out here. I think he has paid a price already, both in sitting out a year and not being under contract any more. He has paid (some of McCarthy’s settlement with the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, the Dragons parent club) out of his own pocket. And he doesn’t make much. Now his career — his whole life — is on the line.”
Wednesday, the prosecution countered with its own Cubbie connection, Eduardo Priego, a former Montgomery County jail prisoner.
Born in Mexico and fluent in both Spanish and English, he grew up in Chicago and said he’s a life-long Cubs fan. He said he talked to Castillo in jail and the pitcher told him he threw the baseball at Dragons players because he was angry. He also claimed Castillo said he was a a big “partier” and had a “girl in every port,” points disputed by two of Castillo’s former Peoria teammates, both who testified Wednesday as well.
Under cross examination, Priego admitted he told no one of that conversation until several months later when he was in the Butler County jail facing deportation for moral turpitude.
Priego claims the prosecution did nothing to help him with his deportation problems. Last month — after 10 months locked up in Butler County on immigration problems — he was released from prison. He now lives in Marion and has a job at a local motel.
He said he still has the autograph he got from Castillo in jail and in the hallway after he left the courtroom, he said: “I’ll feel bad if what I said ends up really hurting him.”
That will depend on whose pitch — Sandberg’s, Priego’s or neither — impressed the judge Wednesday.
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