Sidney Ponson Still A Piece of Garbage…
Over the course of 3 seasons, Sidney Ponson has been given 6 different Major League jerseys.
Baltimore, Toronto, St. Louis, New York, Minnesota, and Texas.
Sidney Ponson’s reign in St. Louis was short, but certainly not forgettable. His numbers in the box score were less than impressive after the Cardinals signed him to a one-year contract in 2006. But, there’s more to Sidney than the sweaty posterior.
If nothing else, the portly Sidney Ponson is beloved across baseball circles because he’s 10-15 lbs. away from being the fat first baseman on your softball team.
After fizzling out in Minnesota in 2007, Mr. Ponson was given another chance in Texas this year. His 2008 was seemingly on the right track - 4-1 with a 3.88 ERA in the worst rotation in baseball. But, all went South this past weekend.
Team sources said Ponson was put on notice after creating a serious disturbance at the hotel bar in St. Petersburg during the team’s last road trip. He was told that further problems would not be tolerated.
Two more incidents occurred this week. Ponson started with three days’ rest on Wednesday against the Indians and allowed six runs in four innings. Only two were earned because of three errors committed behind him, and Ponson reacted furiously after being taken out. His actions were interpreted as “showing up” his teammates.
The second incident occurred when manager Ron Washington informed Ponson on Thursday that he would be pushed back in his next start so that Kevin Millwood could start Tuesday on his regular four days’ rest. Ponson would have pitched on Wednesday on six days’ rest. Ponson wasn’t happy with that decision and made his feelings clear in a heated discussion with the manager.
Ponson’s rap sheet is about as big as his waistband. Let us count the ways.
- 2004: Assaulted an Aruban judge - spent 11 days in jail
- January 2005: DUI in Broward County, Florida
- August 2005: DUI in Baltimore, Maryland
- December 2005: Sentenced to five days in jail, and fined $535 for previous DUI charges.
We’re not sure if Roger Goodell has the authority to punish players external to his league, but this might be a case worth looking at.