BASEBALL Yankees accept probation for brawl
Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia will also perform community service.
BOSTON (AP) -- Two former New York Yankees who got into a brawl with a Fenway Park groundskeeper during the 2003 American League Championship series agreed Tuesday to serve six months of probation and perform 50 hours of community service.
Pitcher Jeff Nelson and outfielder Karim Garcia accepted the deal just before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
The deal also calls for the players to be evaluated for possible anger management counseling.
If they meet the requirements and stay out of trouble, the assault and battery charges will be dismissed.
"While sufficient evidence exists to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, the conduct of Nelson and Garcia does not merit criminal convictions," the district attorney's office said in a statement.
Charges were dropped last week against Paul Williams, 25, of Derry, N.H., a part-time groundskeeper who got into the fight with the players.
The fight broke out after Williams cheered for the Red Sox while in the Yankee bullpen during the third game of the ALCS last October.
The groundskeeper sued the players for more than $33,000. He said the fight left him with a crooked nose, broken teeth, a neck injury and cleat marks on his body.
But prosecutor David Fredette told the judge that a videotape of the fight revealed that Williams' most serious injuries were inflicted by other players who jumped into the fracas, and not by Nelson and Garcia.
"It'd be nice of you guys to write that," Nelson told a reporter as he walked out of the courtroom.
Nelson, 37, now plays for the Texas Rangers. Garcia, 28, was released this August from the Baltimore Orioles.
Nelson and Garcia would have faced up to 21/2 years in prison if convicted.