Jun 30, 2009 8:00 pm US/Eastern
Beasley's Commentary: The J.C. Romero Story
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
I know it's not sportsmanlike behavior and a horrible example for young people, but I assure you professional athletes got a kick out of the J.C. Romero story.
J. C. may be charged with simple assault stemming from an incident that occurred after the Phillies/Rays game in St Petersburg, Florida last Thursday night. The report says the Phillies pitcher declined an autograph request after the game and kept walking with his teammates to board the team bus. The fan went from "Mr. Romero, may I have your autograph ... you're my favorite player ... to Hey Romero, how about you get me some juice."
As a former pro I've seen this act played out a hundred times. Fans claim they named their pet cat after you but if you don't do exactly as they say, some will turn on you like an alley cat.
The "juice" cat call is a reference to Romero's 50 game suspension for violating the league's performance enhancing substance ban. It's a sore spot for Romero who claims he was wronged in the ruling and denies knowing that the over the counter supplement he ingested contained elements not listed on the label. The whole affair is a big mess. J.C. lost millions, the Phillies lost a good relief pitcher for 50 games, not to mention the embarrassment and reputation destruction Romero suffered.
And if the fan thought Romero was a steroids abuser, why mess with him in the first place?
The real problem is that fans forget that players are people too. Some also often believe they have the right to verbally abuse a man that they wouldn't dare challenge on the streets as long as the words are yelled at the ball park. Hundreds of athletes frustrated from taking abuse from out of shape guys covered in beer muscle smiled at J.C.'s reaction.
He walked back to the blustering fellow and slapped him.
It was an open handed slap like one you might see in an old movie depicting a bygone time when men demanded satisfaction via duel. I'm sure J.C. didn't slap the guy and run to the bus. He probably issued the challenge and stood there awaiting the offenders response. In the movies, the man would slap J.C. back and pick a place, time, and weapon of choice so that honor could be upheld. No seconds needed (a second was a friend who stood by you during the duel). The fan ran and told the cops. Perhaps the guy is thinking he may get his hands on a few hundred thousand of J.C.'s dollars.
J.C. was wrong to strike another person. Everyone must exhibit self control and follow the laws of the land.
The fan is claiming that it was a traumatic experience because he was embarrassed in front of other fans and his family. He didn't consider the impact of embarrassing Romero in front his teammates and other fans when he yelled out "how about you get me some juice".
I want to be very clear. I do not condone what J.C. did and would never behave that way myself. I have never hit another person in anger. But after the police report called it "a very minor incident" and revealed that "there were no injuries to the victim whatsoever" I smiled at the story with a tiny hint of way-to-go Romero.
BR
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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