Ex-Astro Charlie Hayes acquitted of assault

[jbarron]

Aug. 29, 2007, 11:47AM
Ex-Major leaguer acquitted on assault charge


© 2007 The Associated Press


HOUSTON — A former major league player was acquitted Tuesday of hitting a youth baseball coach during a fight at a Little League championship game in October 2006.

After a two-day trial, a jury found Charlie Hayes not guilty of misdemeanor assault in the incident. Hayes said he acted only after a racial epithet was used by Darrell Johnson, who has denied that claim.

The fight occurred after a heated exchange between the two men during the Oct. 22, 2006, championship game at Baseball U.S.A. Hayes was manager of the White Sox and Johnson was the coach of the Avengers.

Hayes played 14 seasons as a third baseman for seven teams, including the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. He faced up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine if convicted.

[Coach]

Imagine that, Hayes defended himself using the race card. Who woulda thunk it?

BTW... They should have thrown both those jackasses in jail. The other coach was cursing, arguing and fighting in front of the kids too.

[texiban001]

Yep. It is a shame that people will ruin a kids game because of their own competitive rage.

[Coach]

I have seen a lot of stupid sh*t over the years. What I can't stand is some of the coaches who teach their kids the stupid ass thug crap. My basketball team bounced a team full of wannabe thugs out of the playoffs this past season on our way to the championship.

We had been narrowly beaten by them during the regular season and they pretty much intimidated my kids with their antics. The assistant coach was even throwing gang signs at me during the game.

We were ready for that team in the playoffs and blew them out. Those thugs and their big mouthed coach didn't have a damn thing to say while we were routing them. Their coach did manage to get thrown out with 10 seconds to go arguing over call when he was down by 20. I guess he had a rep to protect. The parents of those kids were in the stands trying to pick fights with the parents on my team. It's not hard to tell where the kids get their attitudes from.

We went on to win in the championship game at the buzzer in overtime. It was televised in the city I live in, I can youtube the final shot if anyone wants to see it.