Swung on and belted by Delmon Young — allegedly.
The New York Post is reporting that police arrested Young, a slugger for the Detroit Tigers, and charged him with assault after a fight early Friday morning outside of the team's hotel in midtown Manhattan. Police were called around 2:40 a.m. after Young allegedly scuffled with a 32-year-old man and pushed him to the ground, causing minor scratches. Young spent the night at a hospital because he was "highly intoxicated" and needed to sober up before being taken to jail to be booked, the paper says.
But that's not all. The Detroit Free Press also reports that the assault charge counts as an aggravated hate crime, a misdemeanor, because of what Young allegedly said during the incident:
"Basically, there was an incident at the hotel (and) some anti-Semitic remarks," said Detective Joseph Cavitolo.
OK.
This would be the second violent incident involving Young (that we know about) since Tampa Bay made him the top overall pick in the draft in 2003.
As a minor leaguer in 2006, Young famously was suspended for 50 games — and he probably should have been arrested, too — for throwing a bat at an umpire during a dispute over a called third strike. Today marks the sixth anniversary of his suspension.
So, he's got a temper. And possibly a problem with alcohol. And maybe a problem with Jewish people.
Young is just 26 years old, but his career as a major leaguer has been uneven at best. Aside from a great season with the Minnesota Twins in 2010 and a nice run with the Tigers late last season and in the playoffs, Young has been below-average at the plate and erratic in the outfield. He does possess a strong throwing arm. But he's always been marked by complaints about his attitude. And he's not so productive that teams will let him continue this sort of alleged behavior.
They shouldn't, anyway.
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