**2nd Annual Official '09 SF GIants reg. season Thread**
- Thread starter DUTCH-F.E
- Start date
yeah you didn't hear? he's being charged with murder, facing 22 years in prison in Dominican Rep.
Here's The story....
LOS ANGELES — Top Giants prospect Angel Villalona, who began this season at Single-A San Jose, is the prime suspect in a fatal shooting in the Dominican Republic, according to an Associated Press report. He surrendered to authorities Sunday.
The news devastated Giants officials, who have invested significant time and money in the 19-year-old first baseman. Villalona's $2.1 million bonus was a franchise record when the Giants signed him in 2006. He was considered one of baseball's elite power-hitting prospects, and his signing signaled a shift in priorities to rebuild the farm system.
Villalona wasn't with the San Jose Giants when they won the California League championship Saturday night. He hasn't played since suffering a torn quadriceps July 5, and he had left San Jose shortly afterward to do rehab work at the Giants' minor league facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Giants officials allowed Villalona to visit his mother in the Dominican Republic, and he arrived there last week, according to minor league coach Jose Alguacil, who was a mentor to the slugger.
"That was the last time I talked to him," Alguacil said. "Everything seemed fine."
Dominican police told the Associated Press that Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was fatally shot at a bar Saturday night in the coastal city of La Romana. Villalona will appear in court today and could face up to 20 years in prison.
The news roared
Advertisement
through the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium moments after the Giants' 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It's a shock," said rookie catcher Buster Posey, who played with Villalona in San Jose. "I don't know any details. He's a guy who gets along with pretty much everybody on the team. I enjoyed playing with him, and I think most people would say they did, too."
Pitcher Waldis Joaquin lived with the same family that hosted Villalona in San Jose. Joaquin received the news via text message from Henry Sosa, another Giants prospect from the Dominican Republic.
"I don't know what happened," Joaquin said. "I have no idea."
Joaquin, 22, said he owns a gun in the Dominican but that it never leaves his house. He said it's not uncommon for arguments there to escalate into gunfire.
Villalona was supposed to return to the United States on Sunday in preparation for an instructional camp for top prospects in Scottsdale.
Villalona had a decent season — .267 average with nine home runs in 74 games — considering that he was one of the youngest players in the California League. But his .306 on-base percentage was unimpressive. A lack of plate discipline and concerns about his work ethic and conditioning raised doubts about his development.
Those problems appear minor now.
The Giants made no reference to gunfire in their statement, which owner Bill Neukom reviewed from his box seat at Dodger Stadium before it was released: "The Giants were disappointed to learn that there was an incident in the Dominican Republic last night in which an individual was killed and one of our minor league prospects, Angel Villalona, may have been involved. We will monitor the situation closely and trust that the judicial process in the Dominican Republic will resolve the matter promptly and fairly."
In 2006, Giants infielder Juan Uribe was investigated in the non-fatal shooting of two men in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, but an arrest warrant was voided and Uribe said he was the victim of an extortion plot.
He cautioned against a rush to judgment with Villalona.
"When people know you have money, they do things," Uribe said. "We don't know what happened."
Villalona's host family in San Jose, Ed and Donna Musgrave, described Villalona as shy and reserved but good-natured. They had spoken to him often while he trained in Arizona.
"But once he went back to the Dominican, we hadn't heard a word from him," Ed Musgrave said. "We've left messages for him and he hasn't gotten back to us."
"Right now we've just got our fingers crossed that there's more to this story than what's come out so far."
Here's The story....
LOS ANGELES — Top Giants prospect Angel Villalona, who began this season at Single-A San Jose, is the prime suspect in a fatal shooting in the Dominican Republic, according to an Associated Press report. He surrendered to authorities Sunday.
The news devastated Giants officials, who have invested significant time and money in the 19-year-old first baseman. Villalona's $2.1 million bonus was a franchise record when the Giants signed him in 2006. He was considered one of baseball's elite power-hitting prospects, and his signing signaled a shift in priorities to rebuild the farm system.
Villalona wasn't with the San Jose Giants when they won the California League championship Saturday night. He hasn't played since suffering a torn quadriceps July 5, and he had left San Jose shortly afterward to do rehab work at the Giants' minor league facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Giants officials allowed Villalona to visit his mother in the Dominican Republic, and he arrived there last week, according to minor league coach Jose Alguacil, who was a mentor to the slugger.
"That was the last time I talked to him," Alguacil said. "Everything seemed fine."
Dominican police told the Associated Press that Villalona turned himself in 12 hours after Mario Felix de Jesus Velete was fatally shot at a bar Saturday night in the coastal city of La Romana. Villalona will appear in court today and could face up to 20 years in prison.
The news roared
Advertisement
through the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium moments after the Giants' 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It's a shock," said rookie catcher Buster Posey, who played with Villalona in San Jose. "I don't know any details. He's a guy who gets along with pretty much everybody on the team. I enjoyed playing with him, and I think most people would say they did, too."
Pitcher Waldis Joaquin lived with the same family that hosted Villalona in San Jose. Joaquin received the news via text message from Henry Sosa, another Giants prospect from the Dominican Republic.
"I don't know what happened," Joaquin said. "I have no idea."
Joaquin, 22, said he owns a gun in the Dominican but that it never leaves his house. He said it's not uncommon for arguments there to escalate into gunfire.
Villalona was supposed to return to the United States on Sunday in preparation for an instructional camp for top prospects in Scottsdale.
Villalona had a decent season — .267 average with nine home runs in 74 games — considering that he was one of the youngest players in the California League. But his .306 on-base percentage was unimpressive. A lack of plate discipline and concerns about his work ethic and conditioning raised doubts about his development.
Those problems appear minor now.
The Giants made no reference to gunfire in their statement, which owner Bill Neukom reviewed from his box seat at Dodger Stadium before it was released: "The Giants were disappointed to learn that there was an incident in the Dominican Republic last night in which an individual was killed and one of our minor league prospects, Angel Villalona, may have been involved. We will monitor the situation closely and trust that the judicial process in the Dominican Republic will resolve the matter promptly and fairly."
In 2006, Giants infielder Juan Uribe was investigated in the non-fatal shooting of two men in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic, but an arrest warrant was voided and Uribe said he was the victim of an extortion plot.
He cautioned against a rush to judgment with Villalona.
"When people know you have money, they do things," Uribe said. "We don't know what happened."
Villalona's host family in San Jose, Ed and Donna Musgrave, described Villalona as shy and reserved but good-natured. They had spoken to him often while he trained in Arizona.
"But once he went back to the Dominican, we hadn't heard a word from him," Ed Musgrave said. "We've left messages for him and he hasn't gotten back to us."
"Right now we've just got our fingers crossed that there's more to this story than what's come out so far."
