Many will remember Jose Offerman for his stint as the lead-off hitter for the Royals and Red Sox in the late 90’s. Others will remember his erratic bat-wielding escapade back in 2007.
Today in Sports History: August 15th
The 38-year old Offerman was playing for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League when the incident occurred. He was actually having a solid season in his attempt to return to the majors; he batted .335 coming into the game. In his first at-bat he nailed a home run off Bridgeport Bluefish pitcher Matt Beech. In his next trip to the plate he was hit on the calf. Who knows whether it was intentional or not; the leg isn’t normally the place you throw at someone.
“I knew it was intentional because the catcher, he said something to me, and when he hit me I realized he did it on purpose,” Offerman said. “I overreacted, I ran to the mound with my bat in my hand.”
Offerman took two to three swings at Beech and manged to break a finger on his none-pitching hand. One of the swings might’ve severely damaged Beech’s face had Bluefish catcher John Nathans not taken the blunt of an Offerman backswing. Nathans received a concussion and missed the remainder of the season. When the two-time All-Star was finally wrestled to the ground, he was ejected and escorted to the police, where he was charged with two counts of second-degree assault.
“It was one of those moments that you want to forget. I lost it for about 10 seconds,” stated Offerman. “That’s what happened to me. I didn’t have any intentions and I feel sorry for what happened and the way it happened.”
Offerman (likely having learned that no video of the attack existed) later denied having actually made physical contact with the bat. Of course when one guy is on the ground in agony and you’re standing there with the bat in your hand, who are people going to believe?
Jose Offerman was suspended indefinitely and missed the final 31 games of the year.
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