Posted on 09/16/2004 6:11:49 AM PDT by sinkspur
Frankie Francisco deserves mercy
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas - Frankie has done wrong. He threw that chair.
He missed the big mouth sitting behind the bullpen, but hit the guy's wife.
Blood happened. A nose broke.
An arrest was made. Frankie had to go downtown. He posted bail.
The woman hired a lawyer. The lawyer is louder than the woman's husband. If I read him right, the Rangers' bullpen was on a meth-crazed rampage that night.
Sounds like a civil lawsuit is coming. Imagine that. It's about the money.
The commissioner of baseball has yet to speak. But Frankie will take the fall, we know that. So will other Rangers.
Media outrage is pouring in, coast to coast.
Frankie Francisco, a nice kid by all accounts, is the new bad guy of baseball.
Give him a 50-game suspension. Sixty games. Lifetime. Sportswriters are on a "hang `em high" crusade.
But I've got a better idea for Bud Selig.
Give Frankie a break. First-time offender, clean record.
It's just too bad the chair missed that punk who was doing all the mouthing, and gesturing for pitcher Doug Brocail to come on over the rail and try to take him out.
OK, you can't write that. It's not proper. Outrage against Frankie is what the media is supposed to show.
But honestly, I got no outrage.
Frankie screwed up. But stuff happens.
Mr. Selig will have to pounce. He will have to be tough, or else the media watchdogs will take a bite out of him.
But if Bud really wants to make Frankie pay a heavy price, then I suggest instead of a long suspension, he make life miserable for Frankie.
Sentence the kid to a form of local community service. Allow Frankie to continue to try to make a living in a hard game, but also place him under house arrest. Well, sorta.
Because Bud doesn't know the local landscape that well, I'm here to make suggestions.
Mr. Selig, if you want Frankie to truly regret he ever picked up that chair, sentence him to the following:
A full NBA season of sitting next to the Mavericks' P.A. man.
Polishing that stupid bell at the ballpark.
Working seven Cowboys' home games as Rowdy.
Working one Cowboys' home game as a starting cornerback.
Serving one month as a member of the Dallas City Council.
Teaching defense to Alfonso Soriano.
Raising money for Tom Hicks to pay off the first $7 million installment to George Steinbrenner.
The Mavericks' spokesman who has to explain Tariq Abdul-Wahad.
Hair stylist for Kevin Mench.
Selling season tickets for the Stars, starting today.
Explaining Bill Parcells to Julius Jones.
Drawing up a defensive game plan for the Mavericks.
Spokesman for Fox Sports Southwest, defending the network's "you really didn't see what you saw" decision Monday night. If there's no replay allowed, was there really a chair thrown?
Cup holder for Quincy Carter.
In charge of planning a victory party for the SMU football team.
I'm telling you, Bud, when it comes to Frankie, all of the above would be a "that'll teach him" lesson.
But if Mr. Selig isn't buying my plan, the next step will be to establish a "Free Frankie" fund.
Frankie will need a good defense lawyer.
I asked Jim Lane of Fort Worth on Wednesday how he would defend Frankie, after having seen all the video evidence.
"Sometimes lawyers will joke that the victim got what he deserved," Lane said. "If that chair had hit the guy instead of the woman, well ..."
But Frankie missed.
"I think I'd have to go the temporary insanity route," Lane said. "That the fan drove him crazy.
"But I might be more inclined, having seen the replays many times, to plead for mercy instead of justice."
There you have it, Mr. Selig. Frankie done wrong. But is there any mercy in your heart?
I hope he gets 20 years.
I realize that laws do not apply to athletes.
Like Michael Savage says, When the gangbangers take to the ball field......
After all, the woman should have had better sense than to try to stop a chair with her nose.
It is all her fault.
If she had not have been there.
If she had not been born.
But on a serious note, if it had been my wife I would not want him in jail.
He would be in the graveyard and I would be in prison.
Dear STFrancis,
"Well, he made something like $170,000 this year."
That's quite a bit more than most folks make. And most folks likely don't get to play at work.
The minimum wage in MLB is $300,000 per year. Mr. Francisco was called up from the minors only this year. I don't know when precisely he was called up, so I don't know what part of the $300,000 MINIMUM WAGE he would have received, if he hadn't committed a felony prior to the end of the season.
His payoff would have been in the future.
If he could have kept himself from attacking fans with a deadly object.
I hope they send him back penniless whence he came.
sitetest
The Rangers aren't the only ones who have complained about the unruly fans at Oakland's Network Associates Coliseum. Others around the American League are saying much of the same things.
"I've had a couple of run-in with fans there myself," Detroit Tigers bullpen coach Lance Parrish told Booth Newspapers. "It's the things they say, the profanity they use. You get concerned about the kids."
Angels reliever Troy Percival told the Los Angeles Times that he's had beer and peanuts and a cup of "yellow foul-smelling liquid" thrown at him.
"The fans are right on top of you in Oakland, and they're probably the most outgoingly obnoxious fans in the league," Percival said.
Good for you...
But I hope they don't.
"Yada yada yada":)
New York fans have a horrible reputation of being brutal, but I have to say I've seen many drunken and/or profane fans thrown out by security. Heck, I even saw security come over at Yankee Stadium and get ready to throw out a Yankee fan who was trash-talking Mets fans! The only reason the guy didn't get thrown out is because the Mets fans told security to let the guy stay.
Anyhow, it sounds like this Oakland jerk has been a problem all season for opposing pitchers. Oaktown security should have put a stop to him a long time ago.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.