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Ponson and trouble go hand in glove: if Ponson weren't being paid $7.5 million per year to win baseball games, you'd love to have him as a drinking buddy

Sporting News, The, April 15, 2005 by Dave Sheinin

There's trouble on the beach in Aruba. There's trouble at the bottom of a bottle. There's trouble in the heart of that drunken patron staring wild-eyed from the other side of the restaurant. Trouble, trouble, trouble. And lo and behold, wherever it lurks, trouble always seems to find Sidney Ponson.

If only it weren't so. Trouble-free, Ponson might be the Orioles' No. 1 starter this season. He might have been a 20-game winner already. He might be a cult hero, a righthanded David Wells, a free spirit who can crack jokes in four languages and miss bats with four pitches.

But something keeps chasing him and catching him: trouble.

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All but handed the Orioles' opening day start at the beginning of camp, Ponson missed time this spring because of a court appearance in Aruba--stemming from a Christmas Day incident in which he punched a local judge--and because of a pitching hand that swelled after he hit a belligerent restaurant patron in Florida. On top of that, it came to light he had been arrested on charges of driving under the influence in January, something the team had been unaware of.

Ponson's was arguably the most disappointing spring performance in the majors. Anybody looking for an overweight, trouble-magnet No. 4 starter with two years and $17.5 million left on his contract?

Call the Orioles--collect.

"They couldn't sign a starting pitcher (in the offseason) but thought they'd be OK because their young pitchers were maturing," Orioles broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer says. "And then Sidney pulls this stuff. They keep thinking he'll wake up and mature, but he hasn't, and maybe he never will."

The Orioles' ownership and front office have banked their reputations--not to mention millions of dollars--on the belief Ponson will mature into a dominant pitcher. Unwilling to take a chance he would do that for another team, the Orioles signed Ponson as a free agent in January 2004, nearly six months after trading him to the Giants.

But by June 2004, with Ponson hemorrhaging losses and the organization out of patience with his lack of conditioning, Orioles owner Peter Angelos began sending his top lawyer around to investigate the feasibility of voiding the contract. The furor died down when Ponson rebounded from a horrendous 3-12 first half with an 8-3 second half.

And then came Christmas, a beautiful day in Aruba's capital of Oranjestad. Ponson and his home boys were buzzing around on personal watercraft. Then--a confrontation on the beach, punches thrown, a man down with a bloody nose. The man was a judge. Ponson and his friends were tossed in jail.

For 10 days, Ponson slept on a concrete floor in an unairconditioned cell. Someone would hand him a tray of food, and Ponson would hand it back an hour later, untouched. "I wanted to show them," he says, "that I was stronger than them."

Two of his friends later broke out of the clink, only to be caught again later. It all seemed like a goofy sitcom, The Dukes of Oranjestad, with Ponson and his rebellious posse of rednecks outrunning the Aruban versions of Roscoe, Cletus and Enos.

But Ponson's personal life is instructive when trying to understand him. He is, at heart, a simple guy who still hangs out with his high school friends, who likes to get his drink on, who loves life.

"He has to understand," Palmer says, "that every day you're not pitching is not a party day."

When you're 21 and a highly touted rookie, your idiosyncrasies can be shrugged off. You'll undoubtedly mature. But then you wake up, and you're 28 and starting your eighth big-league season, and your ERA in Season 7 was higher than your ERA in Season 1.

Your team wants you gone. You are trouble--nothing but trouble.

speed reads

By going overboard to protect the Orioles, Major League Baseball might have depressed the Nationals' sale price and damaged the team long term. The Orioles will start off owning 90 percent of a new regional television network, according to The Washington Post, and their share will reduce to no less than 67 percent over the next 20 years. The Nationals will receive a competitive rights fee, but the Orioles get the upside.

The suspension of Devil Rays center fielder Alex Sanchez for violating MLB's drug policy should refute the myth that bulked-up sluggers are the only players using performance-enhancing drugs. Sanchez (5-10, 180) is a speedy lead-off man. Anyone still doubt the extent of the problem?

An underrated aspect of the Giants is their pitching, which last season tied for 10th in the N.L. with a 4.29 ERA but still won 91 games. "Top to bottom, they're as good as anyone in the league," an executive says. The addition of Omar Vizquel, one of the game's most consistent shortstops, will further help the team prevent runs.--Ken Rosenthal

INSIDE DISH

By Ken Rosenthal

Ponson and trouble go hand in glove: if Ponson weren't being paid $7.5 million per year to win baseball games, you'd love to have him as a drinking buddy

Sporting News, The, April 15, 2005 by Dave Sheinin

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