Bellbrook graduation 2012
Fairfield Senior 2012 graduation
Kroger Aquatic Center opens
Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > July > 24 > Entry
COLUMN: Castillo vs. The Prosecutor
t was a classic duel between a pitcher and a guy at the plate.
Tracey Ballard Tangeman, the assistant Montgomery County prosecutor, was on the mound Thursday, July 23, going through her repertoire — fastballs and enticing change-ups — trying to get Julio Castillo to say that the ill-fated throw he made exactly one year ago today was delivered in anger and had a specific target.
In turn, the former Peoria Chiefs pitcher — now on the witness stand and facing two felony counts for his actions during a brawl with the Dayton Dragons at Fifth Third Field — mostly fouled off her offerings.
Through a translator, Castillo claimed he was fearful when Dragons players began rushing the field. He claimed he was throwing a warning shot at an empty dugout spot to get them to retreat. No Dragons players were brought forward to rebut that.
He did admit he threw the ball “very hard” and it sailed off target, hitting a spectator, 45-year-old Chris McCarthy, who was taken to Miami Valley Hospital with a concussion and then sent home that night with a severe headache.
But Castillo didn’t strike out during his crucial testimony Thursday and because of it I don’t think the state of Ohio proved — beyond a reasonable doubt — the 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic is guilty of using the baseball as a deadly weapon.
With the three-day, non-jury trial completed , Common Pleas Judge Connie S. Price said she’ll render a verdict by written decision at a later date.
I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me — and others in the law profession I talked to — that Castillo was over-charged in this case. The possibility of eight years in prison on just one felony conviction — plus a fine, likely deportation and the end of his baseball career — seems overboard.
In an instant, Castillo made a horrible mistake, an innocent man was hurt and that deserves to be penalized. But he’s already paid a price. The Chicago Cubs, the Chiefs’ parent club, have not allowed him to play for a year and he’s personally paid part of the settlement McCarthy got from the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds.
Whether there is more penalty, that’s up to Price. But I think he deserves a second chance.
Here are a couple of other things I’m left with:
— The two managers that night — the Dragons’ since-departed Donnie Scott and Peoria’s interim boss Carmelo Martinez — deserve some blame. They set the tone in the series allowing — maybe even instructing — six hit batsmen in just 10 innings. Then they ignited the brawl with their own physical confrontation.
— I think the Cubs need to be doing a better job with a young guy like Castillo, who, five years in their employ, still can neither read nor write in Spanish or English. Big league teams often get young talent cheaply out of the Caribbean. These kids quit school to chase a dream, but I think there’s a responsibility to equip them for life.
Tweet
Comments
By slightlyright
July 25, 2009 10:58 PM | Link to this
This game was allowed to get out of hand long before the throw was made. Umpires and managers showed a lack of controlling the players and even themselves to allow the situation to progress to where it did. Punishment is in order and the player has already suffered some of it. How about a reasonable end to it without ruining a career for a stupid mistake? No one has mentioned the victims protection towards future medical problems. That should be an important factor in the settlement of the issue!
By Mark
July 25, 2009 12:51 PM | Link to this
Any neurologist can tell you that a hit like the one our victim took can cause major problems, even fatality, for him in years to come, problems directly related to his smash in the head. The judge needs to do her job and convict Castillo of assault, just as anyone on the street would be. It isn’t enough that this “pitcher” took a “spanking” from his employer. He his still liable, both criminally and civilly, for his actions, now and for any complications that may result in the future.
By S. Pfeiffer
July 24, 2009 4:14 PM | Link to this
What an ignorant statement by Jack, that Castillo should be among the ranks of felons in jail. This was a ballplayer who lost his cool in the heat of a melee and is now being procecuted by an over zealous county attorney who is pumping up a resume’. I’ve seen it time and again. Let the civil court handle this one and stop trying to ruin a kids life. “….what in for kid? Um,I’m doing 8 years because I threw a baseball and gave a guy a headache.”
By Jack
July 24, 2009 1:52 PM | Link to this
“In an instant, Castillo made a horrible mistake, an innocent man was hurt and that deserves to be penalized. But he’s already paid a price. The Chicago Cubs, the Chiefs’ parent club, have not allowed him to play for a year and he’s personally paid part of the settlement McCarthy got from the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds.” -there are thousands of young men and women in jail who could make this claim. Every person is responsible for their actions. What an incredibly ignorant statement from a usually great journalist.