Wurst-Unfall

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Thomas
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Wurst-Unfall

Beitrag von Thomas »

washingtonpost.com

A Teeny Weenie Fine
Clubbing of Brewers' Sausage Mascot Costs Pirates' Simon $432

By Amy Shipley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 11, 2003; Page D01

Wurst came to worst late Wednesday night when a Pittsburgh Pirates player was arrested on battery charges and later cited for disorderly conduct after hitting an Italian sausage mascot in Milwaukee with a bat.

Pirates first baseman Randall Simon received a $432 fine for using a half-swing to topple one of the four mascots participating in the customary race of the sausages between innings at Miller Park.

The teetering sausage, beaned by Simon in front of the Pirates' dugout, tumbled into the hot dog running alongside and both fell. The two women inside the costumes were treated at the ballpark for skinned knees, a sheriff's spokesman said. The bratwurst and Polish sausage were uninjured.

The incident set off an investigation by the Milwaukee District Attorney's Office -- which decided yesterday against filing criminal charges -- and caused a contrite Simon to insist that he had no intention of smoking the meats.

"I wasn't trying to knock her out," Simon told reporters before Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory in Milwaukee yesterday. "I was trying to tap the head and let her finish the race. Unfortunately, she lost her balance."

Immediately after the game, Simon was read his Miranda rights, arrested, handcuffed and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail, where he was released after being photographed and fingerprinted. The police report indicated that he was "cooperative." He later explained that he had nudged the mascot in fun.

"I thought at the moment they were trying to play with us," he told reporters. "They were running right next to the players."

At 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Simon met for two hours with Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin, who said he also grilled the hot dog, Italian sausage and one independent witness. Reddin said the injured mascots, Brewers employees identified by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as Mandy Block (the sausage), 19, and Veronica Piech, 21, agreed that Simon did not intend to hurt them.

Block, who reportedly stands 5 feet 3 and comes up only to the waist of the oversize sausage suit, requested an autographed bat from Simon, who signed bats for both women and gave them to the Brewers.

"We had no intention of prosecuting this criminally," Reddin said, adding with a chuckle that "this is the wurst case I've ever had."

The Brewers' chairman of the board is Wendy Selig-Prieb, daughter of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who relinquished his ownership of the Brewers when he assumed his current post full-time.

In a statement, Selig said baseball officials were reviewing the situation. "Obviously, the type of behavior exhibited by Mr. Simon is anathema to the family entertainment that we are trying to provide in our ballparks and is wholly unacceptable," Selig said in the statement.

The mascots are sponsored by the Klement's Sausage Co., which sells sausage products at Miller Park. James Klement, co-president of the company, said from its Milwaukee office that he was "shocked and disappointed" in Simon's action, but acknowledged that the costumes -- more than eight feet tall and about 50 pounds -- are susceptible to toppling.

"Those sausage costumes are very top-heavy," he said. "Any slight off-balance [action], the wind, anything, can tip it over pretty quickly. . . . you still shouldn't be fooling around with a bat in that area."

Simon swung his bat at the sausage as it ran within arm's length of the dugout. Struggling to get up, the Italian sausage was helped to its feet by the Polish sausage. The hot dog got up without assistance and resumed the competition. The bratwurst, unencumbered, waddled to victory in the event, which is normally a public relations "race" that the participants take turns winning.

The incident was a meaty one for 24-hour sports Web sites and TV networks. A tape of the incident was replayed continuously on espn.com and msnbc.com. NBC's "Today Show'' featured the knockdown and ESPN News reports called it "Sausagegate."

The Pirates issued a statement yesterday apologizing for the incident and saying it would be dealt with internally.

Brewers executive vice president Rick Schlessinger said two scheduled races between the Brewers' Racing Sausages and the Pirates' team of racing pirogis were still on. The mascot challenges are set for Aug. 15 in Pittsburgh and Aug. 22 in Milwaukee.

"Right now," Pittsburgh director of media relations Jim Trdinich said about the upcoming contests, "it's no holds barred."

Simon was booed at yesterday's game in his only appearance, when he was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. He grounded out.

"I've never been in any situation like this," Simon said. "I've never hurt anybody in my life."

Deputy Inspector Sherry Warichak of the Milwaukee sheriff's office said a number of callers had complained about the light-hearted characterization of the beaning by the media.

"The bottom line is that the guy hit somebody with a baseball bat," she said. "As comical as the sausage issue is, it still has to be looked at seriously and reasonably, which we have done and the district attorney's office did."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company


Never underestimate the power of a dark clown ~ Darph Bobo
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madmark9
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Beitrag von madmark9 »

well, the wurst case scenario is that mr. simon could soon be relishing his favorite sport from the hotdog stands - if he mustards up enough courage to show his face after the beans-n-wienering he's getting from the all the press(wurst)... but as long as Herr Simon is not a sauer kraut and is willing to ketchup with the scores from the other side of the weißwurst horizont, it's a (foot-long) sauage to me.

pardon the buns, folks (*groan*)

:beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:
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