Brawl Fallout: Dodgers Served
Manager Davey Johnson and 16 Dodgers players were served subpoenas by attorneys for two Chicago Cubs fans who were charged with disorderly conduct after a May 16 brawl with Los Angeles players at Wrigley Field.
General manager Kevin Malone was also among the 21 members of the Dodgers organization subpoenaed late Friday.
"Just because we've accepted the subpoenas doesn't mean we're going to show up," Michael Abernathy, the Chicago attorney representing the Dodgers, said Saturday. "We're going to file a motion with a judge to strike the subpoenas, based on distance, need and inconvenience."
Abernathy plans to file a motion this week asking a judge to limit the number of witnesses and allow those who must testify to wait until after the baseball season ends.
The lawyer for Charles Carlin subpoenaed 16 players and three coaches. They are: pitchers Eric Gagne, Chan Ho Park, Mike Fetters, Terry Adams, Alan Mills, Antonio Osuna, Onan Masaoka, Carlos Perez and Darren Dreifort; catchers Chad Kreuter and Todd Hundley; outfielders F.P. Santangelo, Geronimo Berroa, Gary Sheffield and Shawn Green; infielder Eric Karros; and coaches Rick Dempsey, John Shelby and Glenn Hoffman.
Ronald Camacho, who filed a lawsuit against the Dodgers, Cubs and several players, subpoenaed Malone, Johnson, Kreuter, Hoffman, Sheffield, Green and Dempsey.
The third fan charged with disorderly conduct, James Mannes, did not subpoena any Dodgers.
"It's unusual to do this," Abernathy sai of the subpoenas. "In a misdemeanor case, normally one witness testifies and the defendant testifies. Nineteen? That's like the Microsoft case."
The brawl began when a fan grabbed Kreuter's hat as the backup catcher sat in the Wrigley Field bullpen, which is only a chest-high wall away from the crowd. Kreuter went into the stands and several Dodgers followed, trading punches with fans.
It took stadium security nine minutes and several tries to restore order.
The brawl resulted in suspensions for 16 players and three coaches that totaled 76 games. Seven of the suspensions were overturned on appeal.
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