K-Rod

[G-Fafif]

It's a family affair, according to the Snooze:

K-Rod is out at home - and he's not welcome at Citi Field either. Hot-headed Mets hurler Francisco Rodriguez was suspended without pay for two games and barred from his Long Island home Thursday after the brutal beatdown of his father-in-law. The one-sided fight began when Carlos Pe�a challenged Rodriguez's manhood and insulted his mother after the crazed closer began shouting about the latest Mets loss, police sources told the Daily News. "Stop acting like a baby," one source quoted Pe�a as telling the volatile Rodriguez inside a Citi Field lounge designated for players' families. "Man up, and play better." K-Rod's mother told Pe�a to keep his mouth shut, prompting a screaming match in Spanish between the pair, the source said. "You can't talk to my mami that way!" Rodriguez shouted before landing the first of many punches in the Wednesday night mismatch. The 6-feet, 195-pound hard-throwing righty pinned the defenseless Pe�a against a wall outside the Mets' clubhouse while raining blows on his head and face, prosecutors said. Stadium security, after hearing the 53-year-old's howls, yanked the four-time All-Star away, officials said. The beating occurred in full view of Pe�a's common-law wife, along with the children and girlfriends of other players. K-Rod left the ballpark in his white Lamborghini, returning 15 minutes later - only after a Mets employee reached him by cell phone. "He slapped his father-in-law around and then bolted," a police source said. "People were shouting after him, 'Hey, you can't leave,' but he got in his car and left...Dumb on and off the field, I guess."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wow, the cop is a fan.

[HahnSolo]

dumber to leave the scene, or dumber to come right back?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: Wow, the cop is a fan.

?

[Guest Edgy DC]

He described Rodriguez as "dumb on the field." Agree or disagree with the opinion, it suggests a more-than-passing familiartiy with the team and the guy.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Kinda. I guess. Maybe. But if I had to guess, I'd say that most people who are merely familiar with him in passing probably feel that way too, if only because of the dancing and pointing.

Oh, and then there's this from the Deadspin. Out-of-context (sorta) fun!

He's just a passionate guy "If he feels strongly enough about something he'll voice his opinion. Sometimes that's a fault, sometimes it's not a fault." -Brian Schneider ... "That's my way. People can say I'm arrogant, a jerk, anything they want to say. But me, I'm going to live my world. I don't care what people think or say." -Francisco Rodriguez I, um, walked into a door "There was a misunderstanding. We talked about it and it's over. Sometimes there are misunderstandings. You talk it through and that's the end of it." -Randy Niemann "We were just fooling around. We were just kidding with each other." -Francisco Rodriguez

[Guest Edgy DC]

I just thought it was a comically inappropriate thing for a cop to say.

It's like a press conference where a cop says, "After a brief pursuit, detectives were able to apprehend the fat ugly guy, but the sissy gay one got away."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Fox Sports presents more details... and whiffs of past incidents.

When Francisco Rodriguez was acquired by the Mets before the start of the 2009 season, there was no indication that "K-Rod," as the pitcher is known, had a history of any trouble. At Thursday's arraignment on charges that he beat up his girlfriend's 53-year-old father, Carlos Pena, in the bowels of Citi Field the night before, a Queens prosecutor told the court that this was the third allegation of family violence against Rodriguez. In state Supreme Court, prosecutor Kirsten Kane didn't elaborate other than to say one of the reputed incidents occurred in Venezuela and the other in Los Angeles. A law-enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said Rodriguez's girlfriend, Daian Pena, told investigators Rodriguez beat her after an argument when they lived in California and he played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Pena, the mother of their twin one-year-old daughters, didn't report the incident, and the official didn't know when it allegedly took place. Details about the alleged Venezuela incident remain a mystery. Rodriguez's attorney didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment. Citing a "history of violence" and saying that Pena and her father were "very fearful" of Rodriguez, Kane sought to have the athlete's bail set at $5,000, but Judge Mary O'Donoghue denied the request and released Rodriguez on his own recognizance. The judge issued an order of protection barring the pitcher from having contact with his girlfriend or her father. (Ed. Including kids, as well... at least until the next court date.) According to a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the incident, the motive for the alleged attack was that Rodriguez believed that Carlos Pena had used disparaging language to describe Rodriguez's mother. In court, Rodriguez spoke only to say that he understood the terms of the restraining order. He didn't enter a plea. After being released, he briskly left the courthouse and climbed into a black Lincoln Navigator as reporters chased after him. He wasn't arraigned in time to make the team's noon-start game against the Colorado Rockies. The Mets won without their star relief pitcher, 4-0. It turned out it wouldn't have mattered because the Mets announced on Thursday that Rodriguez was suspended without pay for two games. Having signed a three-year, $37 million contract in 2008, that would mean he'd forfeit $141,975. On Wednesday at about 10:20 p.m., after the Mets lost a game to the Rockies, Pena and her father were inside a room at Citi Field designated for family members. Rodriguez entered the room and asked Pena to bring her father into the hallway outside the room. When her father entered the hallway, Rodriguez is alleged to have pinned him against a wall and punched him repeatedly in the face and chest with both hands, the prosecution said. The victim suffered injuries to his left eye, cheekbone and the back of his head. Kane said it required several security guards to pull the 6-foot, 195-pound 28-year-old off the man. Mets officials called New York Police Department supervisors who were on hand working a security detail at the stadium, but by the time police responded a few minutes later Rodriguez had left the stadium, the law-enforcement official said. A Mets official then called Rodriguez on his cellphone and the pitcher drove back to the stadium, where he was placed under arrest and held overnight in the NYPD's new holding-cell facility in the stadium. Afterward, Rodriguez's attorney, Christopher Booth, declined to discuss the specifics of what happened, asking people to respect his client's privacy.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I'm not making any predictions ... but the Wilpons really loathe this sort of stuff. (They move Ordonez when he call Mets fans "stupid" but before that, the just about crappiest hitter in franchise history can take all the at bats in the world.)

Edited August 13, 2010 by Guest

[Guest Edgy DC]

They should loathe this. I know I do.

[Willets Point]

They also traded Kevin Mitchell because they thought he was troublemaker from the 'hood.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, I don't think they need to be apologizing for the Kevin Mitchell trade, even if you think they made it for the wrong reasons.

I hope to hell they find a way to end the K-Rod Era.

[batmagadanleadoff]

... and Kris Benson because his wife ... because his wife ... because his wife ...

[Benjamin Grimm]

[duan]

y'know what's worse.
what's worse is that being a fucking obnoxious bully who beats people up isn't something that allows them to void his contract. Surely this should come under some clause of total wankerdom and they should just be able to throw him out. I could be wrong but NOTHING i've read has suggested that's even an option.

[Guest Edgy DC]

No, I'm guessing it's not. It'd be interesting if they tried.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Was Michael Vick under contract with the Falcons when he had his legal trouble? Were they able to get out of it? Or did he get paid while he was in prison?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Was Michael Vick under contract with the Falcons when he had his legal trouble? Were they able to get out of it? Or did he get paid while he was in prison?

I don't think NFL contracts are guaranteed. So if he couldn't play, he couldn't get paid.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Not a problem with the NFL. Salaries aren't guaranteed. They cut you, they don't owe you anymore.

That's the Gene Upshaw legacy.

[duan]

that's not right either.

[metirish]

@lenno212: RT @therealarieber: Will K-Rod apologize to teammates tomorrow? "I don�t expect anything special,� Carlos Beltran says. #Mets

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Anger management and a return tomorrow.

[Guest Edgy DC]

duan wrote: that's not right either.

It's a bloody crime.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy DC wrote: duan wrote: that's not right either. It's a bloody crime.

People who prefer the NFL to MLB would disagree with you there.

Especially considering how MLB fans tend to get all high and mighty on morality issues.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't care. It's wrong. That doesn't make me high and mighty. It makes me a guy with an opinion. The system is an unjust one.

I have another opinion. You shouldn't generalize about baseball fans and football fans. The overlap is huge, for one.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

SteveJRogers wrote: Edgy DC wrote: duan wrote: that's not right either. It's a bloody crime. People who prefer the NFL to MLB would disagree with you there. Especially considering how MLB fans tend to get all high and mighty on morality issues.

MLB fans who get high and mighty on morality issues are just as big a brand of blowhard as anyone else who gets high and mighty on morality issues.

It's a travesty and the shame of Upshaw's reign (nevermind the tradeoffs in TV money he secured for the PA-- he did poorly by his players) that people who destroy their bodies for sport-- and who are compelled to play faster, harder, and more selflessly at every frigging turn by management and the press-- have non-guaranteed contracts.

[metirish]

That's Rodriguez on the left

Moving Van

Wife

K-Rod moves out, will seek anger management

Brawling baseballer Francisco Rodriguez is out at home � and off to anger management. A stone-faced K-Rod showed up at Citi Field this afternoon to make his first public statement since allegedly assaulting the grandfather of his children and verbally lashing out at his girlfriend last week in a shocking dust up inside the clubhouse. The Venezuelan born relief pitcher stared straight ahead into a room packed with reporters as he apologized to Mets� management � but not to his girlfriend Daian Pe�a or her 53-year-old father, Carlos. �First of all, I�m extremely sorry. I want to apologize to Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Mr. Katz for the incident that happened Wednesday night. I want to apologize also to Mets fans, to my teammates,� said Rodriguez. �I want to apologize, of course to the front office for the embarrassment that I caused. And I�m looking forward to being a better person. Right now, the plan is I�m going to anger management program, and I can�t speak no further about the legal stuff that I�m going through right now. But I apologize.� Earlier today K-Rod moved out of the Long Island house that he shared with Pe�a, their one-year-old twins, and Carlos Pe�a. �His things are gone,� sobbed his teary-eyed girlfriend, after a moving van pulled up in front of the couple�s Long Island house and was loaded up with several large suitcases and bags. The van departed not long after � followed by two women in a taxi. �I can�t tell you if I�ve talked to him,� an emotional Pe�a told The Post, as she struggled to contain her emotion. The troubled couple�s relationship imploded after her father tried to intervene in a vicious fight between his daughter and Rodriguez at Citifield Wednesday night following a dismal loss by the Mets to Colorado. �You can�t talk to my daughter that way!� said Pe�a, as the combustible closer launched into a foulmouthed tirade against the mother of his children outside a room filled with players� families. The hot-headed hurler allegedly attacked Pe�a, pummeling him with his fists and then banging the elder man�s head against a wall. Carlos Pe�a, who took out a restraining order against Rodriguez along with his daughter, said he was in a lot of pain. �I�m going to the hospital tomorrow,� he said from their Long Island house. The elder man said K-Rod had asked for his possessions. �He wanted his things, so we sent them to him.� At his arraignment in Queens court, Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to third-degree assault and second-degree harassment. He was released on $5,000 bail. The judge said the pitcher�s family was not safe at home, and issued the restraining orders. The ruling prevents him from entering the home or visiting their children without permission from Family Court. K-Rod was suspended for two games, but suiting up for the Mets today against Philadelphia. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/rod_moves_out_of_his_li_house_Nwvl4v1mxy7HWbLWsuy8LO#ixzz0wcID1ZLX Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/rod_moves_out_of_his_li_house_Nwvl4v1mxy7HWbLWsuy8LO#ixzz0wcI2BduU

[batmagadanleadoff]

http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/08/after_rejoining_mets_closer_fr.html

�Well, first of all, I�m extremely sorry,� he said before Saturday night�s game against Philadelphia. �Whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry for. I want to apologize to Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Mr. Katz for the incident that happened Wednesday night. I want to apologize also to the Mets fans, to my teammates and I want to apologize, of course, to the front office for the embarrassing moment that I caused them. And I want to apologize to everybody else that I left out. Whatever it is that I did, I was wrong to do it and I won't do it again." "I would've left him a long time ago if it wasn't for all of his money", said Rodriguez's common law wife, Daian Pe�a.

[DocTee]

Whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry for.

Not exactly the most heartfelt apology I ever read.

I would've left him a long time ago if it wasn't for all of his money

Umm...Refreshingly honest?

[metsmarathon]

it may be as much as he can/should say, with criminal charges still pending. he can't really say "i'm sorry i beat the shit out of the guy, without provocation" and then plead not guilty, can he?