Jose Offerman Finally Makes Contact

Just when the baseball world thought it was safe from Jose Offerman’s tin glove and hollow bat… well it’s not. And apparently his bat isn’t so hollow anymore either. Now toiling for the Long Island Ducks, an independent minor league outfit, the former Sox malcontent took umbrage last night when Bridgeport Blue Fish pitcher Matt Beech beaned him in the second inning.

Bat in hand, Offerman stormed the mound and managed to whack Beech on his pitching hand and he also got Blue Fish catcher, John Nathans, in the head.

Bridgeport Police Captain Lynn Kerwin said that a “calm” and “cooperative” Offerman posted $10,000 bail at 12:35 a.m. and faces two counts of second degree assault. Offerman’s due back in court on August 23 for his arraignment, though Kerwin said the case will likely only go as far as the Blue Fish push it. If the injuries to Beech and Nathans prove to be relatively minor, she said the case will probably drop. “It was a sports incident and people understand that emotions get heated at times and if the injuries are not severe,” she said, adding though, “Right now, it’s a felony.”

Now, unfortunate as it was for Beech and Nathans, Offerman’s meltdown couldn’t help but get us thinking about some of the other greatest meltdowns in recent Red Sox history. Sure, everyone knows Pedro’s epic takedown of Don Zimmer in the ’03 ALCS, Varitek feeding A-Rod a mouthful of leather in ’04 and even when Tampa Bay’s Gerald Williams attempted some sort of pirouette karate jump kick on Pedro in 2000.

All those pale in comparison to “star of the future” Izzy Alcantara, who executed perhaps the most strategic mound charging ever while playing in Pawtucket. Speaking of the PawSox and in honor of Jon Lester‘s great performance last night (which included a strike out of Delmon Young), how could anyone forget what happened when Lester struck out Young just a season ago in the minors.