In case against Yankees, a game of hardball

By Mac Daniel and Douglas Belkin, Globe Staff, 10/22/2003

As Boston police formally sought a criminal complaint against two New York Yankees' players over the alleged beating of a Fenway Park groundskeeper this month, lawyers and other specialists yesterday said the lengths to which authorities are going is extremely rare and probably motivated by the historic rivalry between the two cities.

"If these guys had been from Toronto, I think they would have let it drop a long time ago," said Art Taylor, a sports psychologist who has worked with the Red Sox and was affiliated for 15 years with Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sports and Society. "But because they're Yankees, you see if you can stick it to them."

Bringing criminal charges is usually not in the interest of the professional leagues or the prosecutor's office, the specialists said.

"Sports leagues want to settle these cases themselves," Taylor said. "They don't want jail time, they don't want the publicity, they don't want the interference."

Instead, such cases, which frequently involve multimillionaire athletes, are typically settled in a civil proceeding or out of court, lawyers said.

"There's a long-standing norm in police agencies and prosecutors' offices that you don't want to use criminal law to settle civil disputes," said Bill Stuntz, a professor of criminal law at Harvard Law School.

On Oct. 7, during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the Yankees and Red Sox, New York players Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia allegedly attacked 24-year-old Fenway groundskeeper Paul Williams after he cheered for the Red Sox while in the Yankees' bullpen. Police officers working security in the bullpen said they heard a Yankees' player say, "If you're gonna cheer, go on the other side." An officer then saw Nelson approach Williams and begin "pushing and grabbing Williams in the chest area," according to a police report. Both fell to the ground, and officers said they saw Nelson "punching and flaring his legs." Other bullpen members were seen jumping on Williams, to either strike Williams or break up the altercation.

Nelson has said he was provoked by Williams.

Williams has not returned to his job as a special education teacher in Derry, N.H., since the incident and is expected to remain out of work for another two weeks with injuries to his neck and shoulders.

"We just want to get this over with," his father, Paul Williams Sr., said yesterday. "I know the Boston police are handling it, and I'm sure they'll do a very good job."

Nelson and Garcia, who are now playing in the World Series, were summonsed yesterday to appear for a hearing at the Roxbury District Court on Nov. 7, after the playoffs, said Joseph Kirnon, an assistant clerk magistrate. Lawyers for the players could attend on their behalf, he said.

A clerk magistrate will issue charges of assault and battery if there is enough evidence. The maximum penalty for a conviction is 2 1/2 years in the prison, a $500 fine, or both.

Usually, players involved in such altercations are punished with fines only.

In 2000, Major League Baseball suspended 16 players and three coaches from the Los Angeles Dodgers after a scuffle in the stands at Chicago's Wrigley Field. In the end, 12 of the 19 suspensions were overturned, while Dodgers' catcher Chad Kreuter was suspended for eight games after he went after a fan who had hit him and stolen his cap. No criminal charges were brought.

In 1996, the Chicago White Sox' Tony Phillips and a fan, Chris Hovorka, received noncriminal disorderly conduct citations for a fight under the bleachers in Milwaukee. Prosecutors said they did not file criminal charges because both were equally at fault.

The year before, the California Angels' Chili Davis poked a heckling fan in the face at County Stadium in Milwaukee, resulting in a $5,000 fine from the American League and a $287 citation for disorderly conduct.